Eat: Zingy Dressing

Last week, I was on the phone with one of my best friends (I realize that makes no sense, since best implies one, but just go with it, okay?) and she asked me if I had any ideas for zucchini.  Of course my favorite way to eat zucchini popped into mind and I sent her Health Bent‘s Paleo Pad Thai.  In return, she sent me a dressing recipe.

Now, you must know, I hate dressing.  It’s seems like a lot of work and extra calories.  (I’m not one of those skinny minnies for the record…just trying to justify my laziness when it comes to making dressing.)  Plus, why eat salad if you have drench it in dressing to make it edible.  That just boggles my mind.

Rants aside, this dressing recipe changed my mind.  The recipe is for a full salad, but you know me, I barely follow the rules.  Given that I didn’t have some of the ingredients and I don’t eat peanuts, I made a bunch of substitutions.  So below is my version of the recipe.

Zingy Dressing

inspired by Food 52’s Lacinato Kale and Mint Salad with Peanut Dressing

• 3 Tablespoons Almond Butter (I used Justin’s Maple Almond Butter)
• 3 Tablespoons room temperature water
• 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon honey (this is my friend’s substitution and optional)
• 1 Tablespoon wheat free Tamari
• 1-2 cloves of smashed/minced garlic
• 1-2 Tablespoons of fresh minced ginger (peel first please)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together and pour over your salad of choice.

My version was actually a bit of an accident because I read the original recipe wrong.  So you’ll see a lot more ginger and garlic in my version.  I’ve also forgotten to put the honey in and it’s a lot more zingy.  In fact my sister and I prefer the honey free version.  We get enough sweetness from the maple part of the almond butter that we have.  Finally, I have a tendency to just approximate and throw together what I remember from memory.  Tastes good every time.

Final note, I think that blitzing all the ingredients together in a blender would make the dressing extra creamy.  I haven’t tried this one yet, but there is a thought for you. (Edit: The original instructions say to make the dressing in a blender…I did not read carefully the first time around…so, not such an original idea.)

I love that this dressing is all sorts of good ingredients thrown together in a tasty drizzle worthy dressing.

Enjoy!

Dine: Sabrina’s Cafe Philadelphia

Oh my goodness, I am sooooo full. Just ate a magnificent platter of huevos rancheros with sweet potato fries on the side at Sabrina’s Cafe and Spencer’s Too in Philadelphia.

This place was recommended by the front desk and apparently there are multiple locations. Well, not knowing that, I walked another mile to one of their more established locations. If you know anything about summer down here then you’ll know that it was getting to be a hot and sticky walk despite the fact that it was still pretty early when I set out for my jaunt. In any case, this is what happens when you don’t get enough sleep and can’t catch a nap because the hotel can’t check you in early.

What really seals the deal at this wonderfully cute, relaxed, and tasty cafe is the fact that they have real whipped cream! And the wonderful girl waiting on me gave me a huge dollop in a cup so I could add it to my coffee. The coffee is pretty good straight, too, but real whipped cream! I could have eaten the whipped cream straight out of that cup and forgotten about coffee altogether. Only problem is that this girl needs some caffeine after a tossing and turning all night and a very early morning flight.

So ladies and gents, if you come to Philly, this is where to eat. If you come solo or even as a pair, you can sometimes skip the line and eat at the bar!

Happy Father’s Day everyone! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with their families!

Eat: Green Smoothie

I don’t know when the last time I wrote a blog post was.  It’s been a while.  A good long while.  In that span of a while, a lot of things have happened, but nothing productive that I wanted to happen really happened.  Life has been chaotic and I feel like I’ve been dragged around by life rather than my being in control of my life.  I suppose we’re not always in control, but I feel better when I think I’m in control of what’s going on.

Stress has a way of making me lose my appetite.  Food hasn’t been all that appealing and I’ve definitely gone to sleep a few nights this past week without eating dinner.  Tonight, my solution to this problem was to make a green smoothie.  I was inspired by this recipe: Ginger and Spinach Green Smoothie.  Check out the link for beautiful photos of a what sounds like a very tasty green smoothie.  I didn’t take any photos of mine.

I made some changes to the inspiration recipe and this is what I came up with:

Funny Eater Green Smoothie

Arugula, a handful

Spinach, two fistfuls

Fresh ginger root, about two inches long, peeled and chopped

Coconut milk, about 2 cups

Chia seeds, a few tablespoons

Frozen mango chunks, a few large chunks

**Dump everything into a blender and blend until smooth.**

As you can see, there aren’t any exact measurements.  I tend to use whatever I have on hand when cooking.  I prefer not to buy more ingredients when I don’t have to.  My farm share started a little over a week ago, so the arugula and spinach were fresh from the farm and oh so tasty.  I had some left over mango chunks in the freezer and this seemed like a good time to use them.  I liked that the mango evened out the green flavor without eliminating the peppery spiciness of the arugula and the zing of the ginger.

I’m usually not a fan of drinking my calories, but right now I need to get some calories in at dinner time and this seems like a good way to do it.  So, mission accomplished.

What kind of fresh smoothies do you like to make at home?