My favorite food blog / Spinach Pesto Recipe

Today will be quick, since I've been bedridden with my dear husband's virus since Friday.  Suffice it to say that I have not been cooking much, although I've been surviving on tasty smoothies for nutritious meals (my tonsils are swollen, so real food is harder to deal with!)

 

So today I want to share with you one of my favorite food blog - the {never} homemaker.  Although not all recipes are gluten and dairy-free, they are whole foods and easily tweakable to meet your specific needs.  The recipe I am sharing with you today is a wonderful Spinach Pesto w/pumpkin seeds (here) - which I can't wait to try once I'm back on my feet.  And the weather is supposed to be unseasonably warm later this week, so pesto is exactly what I will be craving. 

 

Have a great day, and please have a special thought  for all who fought or are fighting for our Freedom Memorial day to all Americans!

Amelie

 

source www.neverhomemaker.com

 



Special Lemonade for Summer Afternoons

So with spring in full bloom, my husband and I have started overhauling our flowerbeds.  This is our second spring at our new home and the garden's bones were good, but needed major love.  It really had been put aside by the previous owner's busy schedules.  This past week-end we were able to accomplish quite a bit, thanks to some major help from our little Mackenzie who worked tirelessly with us on Sunday afternoon.  He was a busy bee, shoveling dirt and putting down cedar mulch at the foot of one of our evergreens.  

 

It used to be that at the end of a long day of hard work, I would sit down and enjoy a cold beer or nice glass of wine.  And while I still enjoy both on a few occasions,  my digestive system disagrees with me.  So I have had to be creative to find some satisfying alternatives.  That is where my Special Lemonade comes into play.  It is refreshing and not too sweet, and with the added twist of San Pellegrino provides the right amount of specialty drink to satisfy my craving for something different. 

 

 

Special Lemonade

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

6 cups filtered water

Juice from 6 freshly squeezed lemons

1/2 cup of white sugar

1 lemon sliced in half-moons

1l. San Pellegrino

 

Method

 

Fill a pitcher with water, then add sugar and juice from lemons.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add slices of lemons to pitcher.

 

When serving, fill half of the glass with lemonade and fill the rest with San Pellegrino. 

 

Serve and enjoy!

 

Have a great day!

Amelie

Vegetarian Burger

The warmer weather  is coming back, and in our house, it used to mean hamburger season.  Friday evenings we would always fire up the grill and eat burgers by the pool and the kids loved it.  While the kids and my husband still enjoy this once in a while, I have substituted my hamburger for a salad for lack of a good vegetarian recipe.  I have tried many recipes, but they are always crumbly and disappointing,  and I don't care much for the store-bought ones.  Not ready to give up on my quest, I went through some old cookbooks and stumbled upon this "crumbly but yummy" recipe that I used to make quite a few years ago.  It is from a Mincavi cookbook (a weight watchers-like diet that I followed to loose some weight after I had my daughter).  Although, like most vegetarian burgers it is not a perfect match to the regular hamburgers, it is still perfect for those poolside Friday nights!

 

Vegetarian Burger

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 onion chopped

1 medium zucchini chopped

1/4 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp. ground cilantro

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

1 1/2 cans chick peas

2 organic free-range eggs

Sea salt and pepper to taste

 

Method

 

Place onions, zucchini, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, garlic and herbs in a bowl and mix.  Add salt and pepper.

 

In a food processor, puree the chick peas and the eggs.  Add to the breadcrumb mixture.

 

Make your patties and cook on high heat in a pan (stovetop) for a few minutes on each side.  Reduce heat and cook for another 2 minutes. 

 

Serve on a gluten-free hamburger bun with your favorite condiments and enjoy!

 

 Have a great week-end!
Amelie

 

 

Raw brownie bites!

This is not a sponsored post

Over the week-end some friends came over for supper, and I was in the mood to try a new desert recipe that I had seen on another website.  We rarely enjoy lounging around after dinner, so having company is the greatest excuse to do so, especially with some coffee and desert.  And since most of my friends read my blog (I don't really give them a choice ;-p), when they come over, I always like to either give them a preview of what's coming or have them choose a recipe from older posts.

 

So this desert recipe comes from Raw Food Recipes' chef Natalia.  One of the reasons I wanted to try hers was that it required few ingredients and included maca powder.  For those of you unfamiliar with maca, it is native to the Andes of Peru and is in the turnip and radish family.  It has been used for thousands of years by the Incas for its medicinal properties.  According to the Natural News, "maca is a nutritionally dense super-food that contains high amounts of minerals, vitamins, enzymes and all of the essential amino acids. Maca root is rich in B-vitamins, which are the energy vitamins, and maca is a vegetarian source of B-12. To boot, maca has high levels of bioavailable calcium and magnesium and is great for remineralisation."

I have been relying on my diet for most of my symptoms (joint pain, dizziness, ringing in the ears, digestive problems, tingling in my extremities and the list goes on), but to really increase my energy level, my naturopath suggested I take maca root extract daily (in liquid form for better absorption). Ever since I have been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation I have had "excessive fatigue". I have had bouts of being bed ridden for weeks and not really being able to care for my kids.  So for the past 2 months I have used it and have seen a tremendous difference.  I may not be ready to run a marathon, but I can get through the day without many hiccups.  So including the powder form into recipes is something that I really am keen on doing.  And for those of you wondering if it is safe for children to consume, studies suggest that there is no toxicity associated with it.  And apart from not being recommended for people with thyroid disease (it increases symptoms) or pregnant or breast-feeding mothers, the only known side effect  that has ever associated with to maca is that it may cause goiters in people on a low iodine diet. 

 

Superfood Brownie Bites

(Yields 15 bites!)

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 cup almonds
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/8 cup mesquite powder (I didn't have any on-hand, so I substituted with a single tablespoon maca powder as recommended, but could have also used shredded coconut or more almonds while keeping the 1/8 cup quantity)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. raw honey or equivalent agave nectar
1/3 cup hemp seeds
2 tbsp. cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract or the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
A pinch of Himalayan salt
 

Method

Place almonds in food processor and process until the almonds are shredded to a nice fine powder.

Add cacao powder, mesquite powder or substitute and salt and process again.  Pour in the honey or agave nectar, hemp seeds, coconut oil & vanilla and process until it holds together as a paste.

Using your hands, roll paste into 1.5" balls.  You may leave them as is, or roll them in some cacao powder or icing sugar as I did (I figured it would help tone done the taste of the maca powder which is quite strong, although I preferred mine au naturel).

Refrigerate or freeze for storage. Serve from the fridge and enjoy!  We certainly did as they were gone before the company arrived and we had to figure out a plan B for desert!!!


Hope you had a nice long week-end!
Amelie
 

 

Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cookies

The temperature here has been quite low for the past few days, and as the thermometer drops, my desire for baking rises.  I can understand why Santa Claus' waistline is the way it is.  Mine would look like his too if I lived in the North Pole.   So when going gluten-free, one's options in terms of baked goods can seem quite limited.  So after many imaginative trials and few successes, I figured I would give Janet and Greta's Flourless Almond Butter Cookie recipe a try. 

 

Well, as my daughter would say OMG!  They are the most decadent cookies I have ever tasted.  For those of you who are familiar with Felix and Norton cookies, they border on their Caramelt flavour.  Glass of almond milk required...they are SWEET!

 

Flourless Almond Butter Cookies

(Yields 18 cookies)

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup raw almond butter (recipe here or store-bought)

3/4 cup raw cane sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp. ground flax seeds

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

 

Method

 

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Place all ingredients in a deep mixing bowl and blend well.  Using your hands, make 1" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2" apart.  Bake for 12 minutes (they might look as if they are not fully cooked, but that is normal).  Let cool for 8-10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to let them cool completely.

Enjoy!  I certainly did...
 

 

 

 

Have a great day!
Amelie   

Simple and Fresh - Spinach Salad with Berries

Here is another one of my Simple and Fresh recipes.   This week, I am sharing with you a spinach salad recipe.  I love salad when it is paired with fruit, especially berries.  In winter it is a great way to lift my mood up, and in summer it is a great light meal when the weather is hot and the berries are in season. 

 

Spinach Salad with Berries

 

Ingredients

 

Salad

 

4-6 cups of baby spinach

1/2 red onion

1 avocado diced

2 apples diced

3/4 cup strawberries

1/2 raspberries

 

Dressing

 

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 nutritional yeast flakes

1 tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 pinch of salt

Coarsely ground pepper to taste

1 tbsp. mixed spices (of your choice)

 

Method

 

Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients and pour over salad.  Enjoy!

 

  

 

 

Favorite Recipe Sites

In cooking, as in other creative processes, we often look to others for inspiration.  When I am wanting to create a new recipe, I peruse the web for images that will ignite a spark and get my artistic juices flowing.   But, like everyone else, sometimes I am just in the mood for someone else's recipe.  And although I still drool over cookbooks, my main resource remains the internet.  So today I thought I would share with you some of my favorite recipe sites.

 

www.forksoverknives.com

 

This is a collection of recipes based on the popular documentary.  All recipes are whole food plant-based, but not necessarily gluten and dairy-free.

 

 

www.allrecipes.com
 

 

Most of you probably know this site.  This has been my main source of recipes for the past 5 years.  Most recipes can easily be adapted to the dietary needs of your family.

 

 

 

For those with apple products, the Whole Foods Market app is wonderful.  It lets you browse recipes according to your many requirements.  

 

 

Happy cooking!

Amelie 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gluten and dairy-free pancake recipe

Happy belated Mother's day to all the moms out there.  I hope you had a wonderful week-end filled with family time.  On our part, my husband and my son went camping with the Scouts, so my daughter and I were able to have some girl time.  We went to lunch, spent quite a bit of time having pretend tea with her favorite stuffed bunny and making crafts at Pottery Barn Kids (they had a special Mother's day activity).  We also enjoyed some wonderful down time at Indigo (for those unfamiliar with Indigo, it is the Canadian version of Barnes and Noble).  But before we went out on Saturday morning, we made some delicious gluten-free pancakes.  They were just perfectly sweet and paired great with strawberries and raspberries.

Gluten and dairy-free pancakes
(Yields 11  medium-sized pancakes)

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar (optional, especially if you are planning on topping them with maple syrup)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 egg
2 tbsp. sunflower oil

 

Method

 

Whisk all ingredients together until you get a relatively smooth texture.  Preheat a medium frying pan and cook until golden.  Enjoy!

 

Have a great day!

Amelie 

Homemade Raw Almond Butter

On mornings when I'm in more of a rush or that I am simply not in the mood for a green smoothie, I have gluten-free toast with almond butter.  Raw or natural nut butters are a healthier alternative to regular nut butters because they are not loaded with oils and other undesirable ingredients.  The only ingredient they contain are raw nuts, although some people will add honey, oil or salt. 

 

So what are the health benefits of consuming almonds, almond butter or most nuts for that matter?  Well, as reported by the  George Mateljan Foundation "five large human epidemiological studies, including the Nurses Health Study, the Iowa Health Study, the Adventist Health Study and the Physicians Health Study, all found that nut consumption is linked to a lower risk for heart disease. Researchers who studied data from the Nurses Health Study estimated that substituting nuts for an equivalent amount of carbohydrate in an average diet resulted in a 30% reduction in heart disease risk. Researchers calculated even more impressive risk reduction—45%—when fat from nuts was substituted for saturated fats (primarily found in meat and dairy products)."

 

So go crazy, spread it on your toasts with some banana slices, spread it on your crackers or on celery sticks!

 

Raw Almond Butter

(makes approximately 1 1/2 cups)
 

 

 

 



 

Ingredients

 

2 cups raw almonds 

 

Method

 

Place almonds in a food processor with the blade attachment and process for 3 minutes.  Change to knead attachment and process for another 7-9 minutes.  If you have a regular (not professional) food processor and you do not switch from the blade to the knead attachment, it will most likely not work!  Trust me, I processed for 25 minutes and nothing happened until I switched the attachment!)



Knead attachment for food processor

 

Enjoy and have a great day!

Amelie   

 

 

 

Green Smoothie Recipe - Mixed Berries and Green Grapes

This morning I was in the mood for something different for breakfast, so I tried another blogger's green smoothie recipe.  Well, it didn't turn out so great.  It was thick and extremely bitter.  Not wanting to waste another recipe - it would have been the 3rd ruined recipe in a 24hour period - I raided my fridge for some ingredients that would enhance what was already in the smoothie. I have to say that I actually surprised myself.  When you listen to your taste buds you can yield some great results (although this shouldn't apply to my husband who adds black olives and weird spices to every recipe that he makes).  The smoothie  was just what I was in the mood for.

Don't be discouraged by its mud color, it tastes quite refreshing since the green grapes stand out over the other ingredients. 

 

Mixed Berries and Green Grapes Smoothie

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups baby spinach

1 banana

1/4 avocado

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup blackberries

1 cup green grapes

1 tbsp. flax seed

1 tbsp. black chia seeds
3 ice cubes

 

Method

 

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until you get a smooth texture.  Enjoy!

Have a great day!
Amelie 

 

Gluten and dairy-free Chocolate Cupcake recipe

On Sunday we hosted my daughter's 8th birthday party with her friends.  She had been looking forward to it for quite a while - she always starts planning her party in July of the year before!  I usually make cupcakes because it is simpler when you have a bunch of hungry kids all fighting to get the first piece.  And I always put a candle on each cupcake to avoid any arguments over who gets to lick the candles.  Her flavor of choice is always chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  She doesn't like candy, but her taste for chocolate over compensates for it! 

 

My inspiration for this recipe comes the Black Magic Cake recipe on Allrecipes.  I have been making this cake for the kids birthdays for the past few years (it is the most unbelievable chocolate cake I have ever tasted!), but it was my first time attempting a gluten-free version of it.  It didn't work so well because I substituted the 2 eggs for 2/3 cup of applesauce (I didn't have any egg replacer, nor did I have eggs so I was stuck).  In some recipes it works out fine, but definitely not here.  Although they still tasted wonderful!  I would still recommend you buy egg replacer or you make your own, as suggested here.  I will surely be giving it a try the next time I am baking!  

 

Gluten and dairy-free Chocolate Cupcakes

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

1 3/8 tsp. xanthan gum (only if your gluten-free all purpose flour does not contain some)

2 cups white sugar ( I rarely use white sugar, but birthday cakes are an exception)

3/4 cup pure cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup strong brewed coffee at room temperature

1 cup almond milk

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 sunflower oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

 

Method

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease muffin tins and set aside.

 

In a measuring cup, pour almond milk.  Add 1 tbsp. lemon juice and wait 10 minutes.  (This is a homemade buttermilk recipe and adds a lot of taste to the cake.

 

In a large bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center.

 

Add egg replacers, coffee, buttermilk, sunflower oil and vanilla extract.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  The batter will be quite watery, don't worry, it's normal.  Pour into the prepared pans.

 

Bake for 35 minutes or until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting.

 

 

 Have a great day!
Amelie

 

 

 

First Fridays - amazing food

So last Friday we went to the First Fridays event in the city and it was wonderful.  It felt great to be outside since the weather has really been summer-like for the past week.  There were about 12 food trucks which ranged in their offerings.  Some sold sausages, others waffles.  There were tacos and smoothies as well as an ice cream truck and a mobile café (they even had a makeshift counter with some stools on the side of the truck). 

Curious as to what we ate?  Here is the run down:

 

My daughter had a chocolate covered waffle for the main course (which, she said, was to die for) She chose ice cream for desert (quite the dinner, don't you think?  Can you tell she has a sweet tooth?).  My son had a hamburger which was not your typical run-of-the-mill.  My husband described it as not fancy, but definitely not fast food type either.  He also had a waffle and ice cream for desert.  I went with an amazing Asparagus Caesar Salad from Landry et Filles which did have some regular croutons and some tiny bits of bacon, but my choices were limited so I didn't make a fuss about it.  I also did have a great vegetarian taco from Grumman 78. It was very fresh with some unexpected flavors - not your typical Americanised Mexican food (which I do have to admit I still like)- but it was great to have a different twist on it  Again, it wasn't gluten or dairy-free, but I didn't go crazy.  My desert was an Americano from Dispatch Coffee Truck.  It was perfect!  Although I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have decaf - old age obliges!  I fell asleep at 1 am because of it, but it was worth it.   My husband chose a pulled pork taco, also from Grumman 78.  He also found it quite good and unexpected.  The organisers also provided a selection of beer and wine. 

 

There was also a DJ which played some reggae music and  some street performers where also on-site to provide entertainment (my daughter hoola hooped for 30 minutes and got some help on her technique by a circus entertainer).  All-in-all, we will definitely be going back more than once this summer.  It is a great family activity and prices were similar to any average family restaurant, but with a much better atmosphere and higher quality of food! 

 

(Pardon the above pictures, they were taken quite quickly

because the kids just wanted to eat and go hoola hoop!) 

 

 

 

Have a great day!

Amelie

 

 



 



¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! - Mexican rice recipe

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Yesterday was my daughter's birthday and we decided to celebrate it along with an early Cinco de Mayo (we are hosting her birthday party with her friends on Sunday, so I will be too tired to spend a lot of energy on planning a nice dinner when everybody leaves!!!)  And since the weather was summer-like, we were able to have dinner outside and the kids played in the pool when we were done.  That's right, our pool is ready for the summer.  We always like to get an early start since the kids like to swim when they come home from school, and once September rolls around, they loose interest quickly.  We figure it is worth the investment to heat it up early.  It was a nice 83 degrees...too cold for my precious little self ;-) but perfect for the kids!

Mexican food is really my favorite food, so celebrating Cinco de Mayo with great recipes is not so hard for me to do.  I had recently been craving a Mexican rice that I used to make when I was in University.  It is simple to make and great tasting. And for the first time in a while, the kids didn't put up a fight as they do when I serve them something new or that they haven't had for a while. 
 

Mexican Rice



Ingredients

2 tsp. sunflower oil
1 cup of water
1 clove garlic
1 onion finely chopped
4 mysteriously sweet long red pepper diced
3 cups of corn
2 cups (or one 19oz can) red kidney bean
2 cups (or one 19oz can) black beans
1 can (28oz) organic diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups long grain rice cooked according to directions
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder

Method

In a large skillet heat oil and water.  Add onion, garlic, peppers and corn and cook on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, black beans and red kidney beans.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Add cooked rice and spices and simmer for another 1 minutes.

For health benefits, make sure you really do use brown rice.  It is not as processed as white rice and therefore is more nutrient rich.  According to the George Mateljan Foundation, the process that produces white rice simply leaves us with "a refined starch that is largely bereft of its original nutrients."  Even when companies add back vitamins B1, B3 and Iron (which is enforced by law by the USDA) it is still missing 11 nutrients.      


Special note:  When I make it for my kids, I tone down the spices in the following way :

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. cumin

On another note, if you are in the Montreal area today, be sure to check a wonderful event called First Fridays.  It is the largest gathering of street food kitchens in Quebec.  It takes place in the Olympic Park (on the Sun Life Financial esplanade) from 4pm to 11pm.  It will be held on the first Friday of each month until October 4th. 

Have a great week-end!
Amelie

 

Holy Guacamole - Getting ready to celebrate Cinco de mayo

With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, it is time for me to start planning the festivities.  Although we are not of Mexican heritage, I always make a point of celebrating different cultural holidays.  I think it's a great way of teaching my kids about other cultures and their heritage.  It is also a great way to experience a variety of foods from around the world. 

 

Although my kids are quite the picky eaters, a Mexican rice is always a great way to get them to eat legumes.  I will be sharing this recipe with you tomorrow, but today, I decided to let you in on a little secret of mine...I am addicted to guacamole.  There, I said it!  I could literally eat it by the spoonful! And judging by this tidbit of information in Warren Belasco and Phillip Scranton's Food Nations, I am not alone.  Did you know that guacamole has pushed avocado sales to 30 million pounds on two days a year, Super Bowl Sunday and Cinco de Mayo.  I, alone, can account for one tenth of these sales ;-)  I use avocados daily in my cooking and no Sunday afternoon is complete without guacamole and corn chips.  That's just how it is!  Football season or not, when 4 o'clock comes around, my husband and I stop what we are doing and relax with the kids.

A lot of people worry that they will gain weight or raise their cholesterol levels by consuming avocados, but it is just the opposite.  According to Best Health magazine, avocados make you feel full longer, because it contains soluble fibers which slows the breakdown of carbs in your body.  It also contains oleic acid - a fat that signals the part of your brain that controls satiety.

What about cholesterol, then?  Well, in one study, people that had a diet rich in avocado were found to have "a significant decrease in total cholesterol levels, including a decrease in LDL cholesterol. Their levels of HDL cholesterol (the healthy type) increased by 11%." 

 

When eating a whole foods plant-based diet, it is essential to make a point of eating foods rich in  fatty acids as they provide structure to cell membranes, help transport various compounds throughout our body, and are a carrier for life-sustaining vitamins.  Eating avocados helps, but I also take 2 tbsp. of an oil called 3-6-9 blend (for omega 3, 6 and 9).  This helps ensure that I get sufficient fatty acids, especially omega 3 and 6 which our body does not produce and therefore we have to consume.  (To read more of the subject, go here)

So here is my recipe...best enjoyed poolside!

Guacamole

 

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados (Haas are best)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

Method

Cut avocados in half and scoop with a spoon.  Place all ingredients in a bowl and mash with a mortar (a manual potato masher also works).  

This can be good on Mexican rice, as a dip with vegetables or simply with corn chips.

Enjoy!
Amelie

  

 

 

 

All is fine and Dandelion! What?

On Monday's post, I mentioned that using dandelion greens in smoothies was good.  When my husband came home that night, he said to me : "So we pay to get a company to get us rid of dandelions on our grass (in an eco- friendly way, of course!) and then you go to the grocery store and buy some dandelion greens to put in your smoothies?  Seriously?"  I laughed, but knowing him, I am pretty sure he was dead serious.  As serious as I am about using dandelion greens in my smoothies.  But be careful before going around your neighborhood picking them, as there are a few things you need to know :

 

• They are best in the spring when the yellow flower has not yet developed
• Make sure that you are picking greens that have not been treated with weed killer or fungicide
• After picking them, wash carefully and store in the refrigerator, in a plastic bag, for up to 3 days

 

Did you also know that 1 cup of raw chopped dandelion greens contains 112% of your daily recommended intake of vitamin A and 32% of your vitamin C.  Also, ounce to ounce, it contains more calcium than milk.  So it is a great addition to any dairy-free diet.    It can be served raw in salads and smoothies, but it can also be steamed and served as a side.   

I have to admit that the following recipe surprised me.  I don't know if you've ever tasted dandelion greens, but they are quite bitter.  So being used to somewhat sweet green smoothies, I wasn't expecting to be won over.  But as soon as I took my first sip, I was sold.  It almost tasted like lemonade.  So much so, that it will definitely be accompanying many of my afternoons lounging by the pool watching my kids!

Dandelion Apple smoothie
source: Best of Raw Food

 

 

Ingredients

1 banana
1 apple
1/2 lemon peeled
2 cups dandelion greens
2 tsp. flax seed
water to cover all ingredients (approximately 2 cups)
4 ice cubes

Method

Place all ingredients in a high-power blender and mix until you get a smooth texture.  Enjoy!

Have a great day!
Amelie


Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4510889_eat-dandelion-greens.html

http://www.dietobio.com/aliments/en/dandelion.html

http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/green-smoothie-recipe-2.html