Hopeful Spring Smoothie

On Saturday, I had prepared a pureed asparagus soup and a delectable carrot-parsnip puree to be certain I would have what I needed to enjoy my Easter dinner with my family. So I was surprised when I stared at the fabulous fruit platter of fresh pineapple, strawberries, grapes, and mango with envy for my family's ability to eat it with abandon and without concern for an obstruction. Then, oh so slowly, the words from the poem I had read earlier in the day crept into my soul: "Coax joy to spring from my difficulties." "Warm the buds of my relationships so they bloom with healthy love." "Light-filled Being, my Joy and my Hope, let the greening in me begin." (just a few lines from Out of the Ordinary, an exquisite poem, by Joyce Rupp). So later in the day when there was a quiet moment after the guests departed, I made a fruit smoothie with pineapple, strawberries, yogurt, and some shredded unsweetened coconut.  Ah, hope bubbled up with gratefulness.  


Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple
3 medium strawberries, stem and core removed
1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt 


Preparation:
Put all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree your way to sweet hope!


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: About 1 1/2  cup
Calories: 104
Total Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 4 mg
Sodium: 45 mg
Total Carbs: 17 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 4 g

Asparagus Cauliflower Soup

So...my technology challenged brain is at work again. I accidentally deleted this from the posts and so I am posting it again.  Take this as an opportunity to try this if you missed it the first time around.  How is that for a spin on the positive?  


Asparagus again?  Yes.  I love it.   This creation resulted from combining several asparagus soup recipes that I saw on SparkPeople, which is the site I use for my recipe calculator.  I was surprised by how well the cauliflower complimented the asparagus.  Easy spring festival! 


Ingredients:
20 small spears of fresh asparagus, chopped
1 small head (4" diameter) of cauliflower, chopped (4 cups chopped)
4 cups Emeril's vegetable stock  (it was on sale so I tried it and was quite pleased)
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 leek, white and light green part only, sliced/chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Put the chopped cauliflower and the vegetable stock in a big soup pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add the celery and chopped asparagus stems (reserve the tips) with about 2 cups of water.  Simmer till tender.  Add the asparagus tips, the leeks, and the garlic and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.  Puree, add some freshly ground pepper, and enjoy spring!

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 6
Serving Size: Almost 1 cup
Calories: 40
Total Fat:  0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 410 mg ( use a reduced sodium vegetable broth if desired for less sodium)
Total Carbs:  8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 2 g

Kale Apple Soup

Kale Apple Soup

Drama Duluth.  That's how I would describe our weather.  First it was "the winter that wasn't" with hardly any snow and average temperatures much higher than usual for the months of December through February.  Then a week of  12" of snow.  Followed by a week of 50- 60 degree weather that coaxed some daffodils to peek through. Today it is a mixture of snow and rain.  Time for a hearty bowl of soup!  I never tire of any variation of kale soup. My favorite type of kale is the Black Tuscan, also known as Black Palm.  Its striking puckered leaves are a beautiful dark blue spruce color.  The ease with which I can remove the leaf from the tough stem is another reason I choose it over the other types of kale when making soup.  The apple in this soup compliments the kale remarkably well, giving it a tart and slightly sweet undertone.  I might not be able to eat an uncooked apple or kale, but pureed together in this soup, it's delectable!  

Ingredients:
1 large bunch kale, destemmed and chopped (5 cups chopped)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 Tablespoon coconut oil, divided into two portions (or 2 Tablespoons olive oil)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt

Chopped Kale

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped                
1/4 cup non-fat Fage Greek yogurt
freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:
Wash the kale and remove the tough stems.  Coarsely chop the leaves. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the kale in 1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil.  Cook, stirring, until the kale begins to wilt.  Add 2 cups vegetable broth, lower heat to medium-low and cook, stirring  occasionally for about 10 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a blender or VitaMix and puree.  In the same skillet that was used to saute the kale, add the remaining oil, the onions and the salt, and cook over medium-low heat until they are just barely turning color.  Add the chopped apples and remaining 1 cup vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add this mixture to the kale in the blender and puree it all together.  If the soup seems too thick, add more broth or water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Garnish with a dollop of non-fat Fage yogurt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 4

Kale Apple Soup

Serving Size:  1 cup                                  
Calories: 122
Total Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 293 mg
Total Carbs: 19 g
Dietary Fiber: 6
Protein: 4

Cold Asparagus Soup

Nothing says spring to me more than asparagus.   Green, glorious, green.  Fresh, vibrant, and lively.  Yes, that describes this soup, too.  It's an adaptation of one from Anna Thomas' cookbook, Love Soup.  And I do indeed love this soup.  The original recipe used heavy cream, for which I substituted fat-free half-n-half.  It also used full-fat goat cheese, and I used fat-free feta cheese.  And I used coconut oil rather than olive oil.  And I omitted the cayenne pepper that was used in the original recipe.  I wanted the fresh dill taste to stand alone with the asparagus, which it did quite well.  Savor the fresh taste of spring!  


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. fresh untrimmed asparagus
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
3 Tablespoons fat-free half-n-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 oz. reduced-fat Feta cheese
1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil (or 1 Tablespoon olive oil)
sea salt to taste
freshly ground white pepper to taste


Optional Garnishes:
fresh sprigs of dill
Greek yogurt


Preparation:
Break off and discard the tough bottoms of the asparagus stalks, then thinly peel the lower parts of the remaining stalks. You want as few of the strings as possible.  Cut the asparagus in pieces and simmer it in the vegetable broth until it is tender, about 10 minutes.  Allow the mixture to cool.  Combine all the ingredients and puree them in a VitaMix or similar blender.  The VitaMix did an extraordinarily good job of pureeing any asparagus strings that remained.  


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 5
Serving Size: Just a bit over 1 cup
Calories: 84
Total Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 4  mg
Sodium: 21   mg
Total Carbs: 8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 7

The Skinny on Coconut Oil

A couple of years ago, I was hospitalized for a complication related to the neuroendocrine tumor on my pancreas.  Generally, I think of hospitalizations as an event to be avoided at all costs. However, I learned a new piece of information that made the stay worth it.  


The attending oncologist talked to me about the benefits of coconut oil for individuals who don't produce enough pancreatic enzymes to digest fats properly. He explained that coconut oil is composed primarily of medium chain triglycerides, which makes it more digestible for people with pancreatic insufficiency. Wow...maybe I could add some fat back into my diet!  But what is a medium-chain triglyceride?  I had no idea.  

So, here's the skinny on this fat. 


Fats are comprised of chains that range in length.  Most common fats used in our Western diet consist of long-chain triglycerides.   Long-chain triglycerides require the action of pancreatic enzymes and bile salts for digestion.  In contrast, medium-chain triglycerides can be absorbed directly by the wall of the small intestine without the need for pancreatic enzymes. That is the key to why coconut oil, which is comprised of at least 65% medium-chain triglycerides, is an excellent choice for someone like me who doesn't  produce sufficient pancreatic enzymes. And even though I take prescription level pancreatic enzymes with each meal, I still have difficulty digesting fat.  (That's my polite way of saying I am ready to shove everyone out of my path to the bathroom after eating even small amounts of most fat.) But when I eat coconut oil, I am confident I look like a Polynesian model out for a leisurely stroll.    


So that is why I modify recipes calling for olive oil or butter etc, and use coconut oil instead.  And you were thinking that I used it because I was hoping to be transformed into a tropical beauty.   

If you would like more in-depth information and resources about this topic, please post a comment and I will gladly give you my long-version on the merits and potential problems of coconut oil with  references.  

Pok Choy Broccoli Soup

Pok Choy Broccoli Soup

It's a good week to love green soup.  St. Patrick's Day can inspire green beer as acceptable for some, so why not green soup for those of us who love the healthy lifestyle instead?  This soup was simply a way to use up some leftovers in the refrigerator, with tasty results.  Now, how could I have made this look more attractive?   

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pok choy (which is baby bok choy)
1/2 cup chopped broccoli florets
3/4 cup vegetable broth


Preparation:
Put all ingredients into a microwave safe container.  I used my 4-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup. Cook until the vegetables are tender.  Using an immersion blender, puree to desired consistency.  I garnished it with some crushed crackers. (Garnish not included in nutritional analysis.)


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: About 1 1/2 cups
Calories: 27
Total Fat:  0 g
Cholesterol:0   mg
Sodium: 120 mg
Total Carbs: 5 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein:  1 g

Creamy Raw Zucchini Soup

                                   Watch March Madness turn into March Gladness with this soup!

Kris Carr is a self-proclaimed wellness warrior.  She was diagnosed with a rare and incurable stage 4 cancer in 2003 and there was paltry information about what types of treatments would be of benefit to her.  So she blazed her own trail into a terrain of whole foods, raw foods, meditation, and joyful living.  She has published many books, including Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips, Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor, Crazy Sexy Diet and her newest book that will be released soon is Crazy Sexy Juices and Succulent Smoothies. Her approach to life and challenges is joyful, zany, and inspiring!  The recipe below is my modification of one of her original creations.  I reduced the amount of avocado in it and omitted the olive oil, predicting my digestive system would be screaming if I had that much fat.  I also peeled the zucchini prior to putting it into the VitaMix. Yep, my new VitaMix is getting a workout this week.  I am finding that it creates much smoother purees than my blender did.   Pzazzed Gladness!

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, peeled and chopped (about 1 generous cup)
1 cup fresh spinach (or other greens such as kale, chard, etc)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white miso
1/4  avocado, chopped
2 - 4 tablespoons fresh dill (or use dried dill)
1/4 cup water

Preparation:
Blend all ingredients on high in a VitaMix or blender until smooth. Garnish with a sprig of whatever herb is growing in your kitchen herb garden. Oregano, thyme and rosemary are thriving in my window these days.

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: Approx 1 cup
Calories: 122
Total Fat:  7 g
Cholesterol: 0  mg
Sodium: 215  mg
Total Carbs: 15  g
Dietary Fiber: 6 g
Protein: 3 g