A Smattering of Smoothies

Elise,

                I have been on a smoothie kick lately.

                This week’s smoothies:

                Monday – Mixed melon w raspberries and basil. Tasty and fruity, but not healthy enough.

                Tuesday – Adult kale, melon, raspberries. OK too healthy. Adult kale is not a breakfast food, not if you care about that day’s digestive comfort.

                Wednesday – A beet, some melon, some raspberries and a piece of ginger. The flavor was dirt first, then a bland sweetness followed by residual heat from the ginger. This was OK, tolerable enough that with a little tweaking, it might be good.

                Thursday – A beet, some almonds, some cocoa nibs, some coconut milk and a date. I couldn’t’ finish this one. Gritty, sweet, chunky and just unpleasant.

                Friday was too cold for a smoothie. I had Thai coconut chicken soup, which, to quote Rory, “was delicious.”

                Today – Whole milk, frozen raspberries and a scoop of protein powder. The best yet.

                The weekday smoothies are for general health, hence the vegetables. Today’s was for recovery after a long bike ride. The take-away is that recovery food is better than health food.  This time of year, that might be the motivation I need to get on the bike.

                Next week, perhaps I'll try an actual recipe.

Love, Margaret

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

·         1 onion

·         1 lb shitake mushrooms, sliced

·         2 lbs boneless, skinless breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

·         4-6 C chicken broth, preferably home made

·         1 can coconut milk

·         1-4 TB red curry paste, I use Thai Kitchen

·         3 TB fish sauce, or to taste

·         3-6 TB lime juice

·         2-4 TB honey

·         Cilantro

Soften onion in some oil in a large pot, add the mushrooms and let them brown a bit.

Remove all this to a bowl, add more oil to the pot and cook the chicken pieces. They just need to be no longer pink.

Return the onions and mushrooms to the pot; add the coconut milk and the broth. Use more broth if that is the kind of soup you like, I prefer less broth and it becomes a soupy stew.

Stir in your curry paste. I used ¾ of a 4 oz jar, but this jar is set to expire in 6 months. If your curry paste is fresher, start sparingly. I have made things way too hot with this curry paste.

Add honey, fish sauce and lime juice to taste. Stir, and then let it all simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro.