PEACHY KEEN SMOOTHIES

 

 

This past weekend, Ava and I headed to Farmer's Market to pick up some fruit. There is a severe drought going on in Northern California and it's hit small farmer's hard. The stands were few and far between as farms try to beat the heat/lack of water. But the peach seller we always buy from was there, handing out free samples and selling glorious yellow and white peaches. I bought 2 1/2 pounds of them. And then I got home and remembered we are moving-very, very soon-and I need to use up our food, not buy more and waste it. So this morning I whipped up a big batch of smoothies with those delicious peaches. These smoothies are both dairy free and vegan and the perfect, EASY breakfast on a hot July morning.

 

Peachy Keen Smoothies

makes 2 large servings

 

2 large peaches, pitted and sliced

1 banana (fresh or frozen), sliced

1 cup of orange juice

1 cup of water

3-5 ice cubes.

 

Add all ingredients together in a blender. Blend and serve. Enjoy!

ROASTED GREEN BEANS

 

Growing up, green beans made an appearance on our table at least once a week. Unfortunately, they were of the canned variety, boiled until they were mushy. This resulted in me thinking that I did not like green beans, that they were something to be choked down but never enjoyed.

I was wrong.

When I was 18, I moved to Georgia. And let me tell you, Georgia knows how to cook fresh beans. I learned first hand how lovely fresh green beans are. The taste of a fresh green bean is simply not comparable to the canned ones. They are crisp and clean and delicious. As green bean season is approaching, my local grocery store has piles of them and my garden is full of buds on the bean plants (grow beans, grow!) Sometimes though, it's hard to think of a way to cook them other than just boiling them.  Enter: roasting. These roasted green beans are just yum.  I love the flavor of green beans cooked this way: lightly crispy and bursting with taste. Try them tonight!

 

 

Roasted Green Beans

from Shutterbean

 

 

Ingredients:

1lb green beans, trimmed

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 swirls of olive oil

pinch of red pepper flakes

juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 400. On a large baking sheet, toss trimmed green beans with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Toss beans, and continue roasting for 15 minutes more, until beans are slightly browned and crispy looking. Serve warm.

 

Enjoy! 





HOMEMADE CUCUMBER PICKLES

 

There are cucumbers in the garden, and that means homemade pickles.

 

 

Canning scares some people. It screams of grandmas stuck over a stove during the hottest time of the year. The science behind it seems to promise that if you don't do everything JUST SO, you will contract botulism.

Botulism + old fashion grandma = canning is scary.

 

I'm here to walk you through it.  Even if you have never canned before, have no fear.  Let's be old fashioned together. Haven't you heard? Grandma is in. Canning is awesome.

 

You want to do this, trust me.

 

Pickling is a great way to start canning; it's both easy and quick. And you end up with little, vinegary, pickles, just to your taste. Like spicy? Add hot sauce. Garlic is your thing? Add it. Go beyond dill!

 

All you need are cucumbers and a brine. The brine is equal parts vinegar and sugar, boiled together. That's it.

 

 

Chop up your cukes.

 

 

Place them in glass jars. You'll want to pack them pretty tight. Pour over the brine. Add your flavors. I had three jars, and did: Salt and pepper pickles, spicy pickles, and garlic onion pickles.

 

 

 

 

They're ready to eat in about an hour, but taste even better after two days in the fridge. They normally last, refrigerated, for several weeks. Please use common sense for this.

 

There. Don't you feel wholesome and (in a good way!) grandma-ish? Old fashioned. Don't knock it till you try it (pickled).

 

Homemade Cucumber Pickles

Adapted from Averie Cooks

 

Ingredients:

4-6 cucumbers, sliced into 1/2 inch thick spears

3 cups of vinegar

3 cups of sugar



For Salt and Pepper Pickles:

2 tablespoons coarse salt, 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

For Spicy Pickles:

2 tablespoons hot sauce of your choice

For Garlic and Onion Pickles:

1 small purple onion, thinly sliced

5 whole garlic cloves

 

Pack cucumber spears in glass jars very tightly, add garlic and onion to one jar. Set jars aside. In a medium sauce pan, combine vinegar and sugar, and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Pour liquid over each jar to nearly the top (it might be helpful to pour from a spouted measuring cup; this is what I do). Add salt and pepper to one jar, and hot sauce to remaining jar. Seal lids tightly, and shake gently to distribute spices. Allow jars to cool on the counter and then refrigerate.

 

Enjoy! 

 



QUICK HOMEMADE PEACH JAM

I know that it's nearing the end of October, but I live in California. One day last week it was almost 90 degrees. But this weekend, fall weather began creeping in. And this morning, as a chilly rain came down, I put on a scarf and a pair of boots and BOOM. Fall. Which I love. I love scarfs and boots and crisp apples and bright red leaves and Thanksgiving. Really, I do. But oh, summer. In my heart I love you best and I'm always, always sad to let you go.
This peach jam is one last taste of summer. I had about eight ripe peaches rolling around in the bottom bin of my refrigerator when I came home from the grocery store, weighted down with the seasonal apples and pears. And I thought I must do something with them; I couldn't throw them out and they were just too soft, just the type of softness where you cannot bring yourself to eat them. Jam, I thought. I didn't have enough to make it worth it to do honest canning, but I had just enough to make a quick jam. Thirty minutes late, lovely peach jam, a tiny bit of summer in two mason jars.

Delicious enough to eat straight up with a spoon.




Quick Peach Jam

Adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook
via Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean

eight large, ripe peaches
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
pinch sea salt

Cut the peaches into chunks, discard the pits and remove the skins. (You can leave the skin on for a more textured jam or if you're lazy, like me.)
In a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, combine the peaches, lemon juice, vanilla, and sugar and stir. Once the mixture is warmed through and the juices start to release, add the salt and turn the heat up to medium-high. Continue to cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the fruit breaks down and resembles a puree, about 15 minutes. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar, if necessary. When the jam reads 190F to 200F on a candy thermometer, remove the jam from the heat and transfer to a bowl to stop the cooking process. Stir to release the steam and allow it to cool completely. Transfer to jars. Can be kept refrigerated for up to two weeks.