Recipes, Shaping Your Health

Shaping Your Health: Summer Smoothie Series, Blue Edition!

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Welcome to the Summer Smoothie Series!  For the next few weeks, I’ll show you how to drink the colors of the rainbow.  There are so many delicious and unexpected fruit and vegetable combinations that make for a delicious breakfast or snack.

[A blue glass filled with violet colored smoothie, viewed from directly above.]
Photo by Asha Mattai
Today we are highlighting one of my favorite colors of the rainbow: blue! Though this smoothie looks a little purple… 🙂
I was in a rush this morning but knew I wanted to make the time for this. When you’ve overslept, like I did, you want to give your body the nutrients and energy it needs so that you can be alert throughout the day.

[A blue tinted mason jar mostly filled with a smoothie. It's sitting on a window ledge.]
Healthy tip — use mason jars!
Blueberries are a great superfood, here’s why:
They rank the highest of any fruit for antioxidants (those free-radical-fighting powerhouses), and 1 cup delivers about 15% of the recommended daily fiber intake and about 25% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C. They decrease inflammation in the body and can help to lower cholesterol.

This smoothie is creamy, sweet, and tart due to the blueberries.

Ingredients
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 small frozen or fresh banana, chopped
2 tbsp almond butter
¼ cup plain yogurt
½ cup almond milk
¼ cup ice, only if your fruit is not frozen

Blend all ingredients and enjoy. Serves one.

[Photo of the author, Asha Mattai, in front of tropical plants. She is smiling.]

Asha Mattai is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Reiki practitioner who is passionate about helping clients to lose weight, reduce stress, and feel energized and refreshed. Learn more about Asha and her work at www.shapingyourhealth.com.

Recipes, Shaping Your Health

Shaping Your Health: Summer Smoothie Series, Green Edition!

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Welcome to the Summer Smoothie Series!  For the next few weeks, I’ll show you how to drink the colors of the rainbow.  There are so many delicious and unexpected fruit and vegetable combinations that make for a delicious breakfast or snack.  

[View directly down to a blue glass containing green beverage. The background is blank.]
Photo by Asha Mattai
Personally, I find it easier to drink my greens than to eat them.  Plus, in our busy lives, there is no guarantee that we are going to cook or eat 2+ cups of greens per day, which is what we should have to promote optimal health.  This smoothie is especially delicious since it has sweetness from the fruits and a tart flavor from the fresh ginger.

My Go-To Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 frozen pear
1 frozen apple
1.5 cups spinach
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
2 cups water

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!  Serves 2.

[Photo of the author, Asha Mattai, in front of tropical plants. She is smiling.]

Asha Mattai is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Reiki practitioner who is passionate about helping clients to lose weight, reduce stress, and feel energized and refreshed. Learn more about Asha and her work at www.shapingyourhealth.com.

Recipes, Shaping Your Health

Shaping Your Health: Summer Smoothie Series, Orange Edition!

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Welcome to the Summer Smoothie Series!  For the next few weeks, I’ll show you how to drink the colors of the rainbow.  There are so many delicious and unexpected fruit and vegetable combinations that make for a delicious breakfast or snack.  

[Two short glasses of orange smoothie sit on a background of a patterned tablecloth.]
Photo by Asha Mattai
Green smoothies are all the rage, but don’t forget about orange! Carrots are full of vitamin A and are a good source of fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B8, and potassium. Mangos are also a good source of Vitamin C, beta-carotene, Vitamin A, and are great for those who have issues with digestion.

This smoothie requires 5 ingredients and is made in minutes. Give it a try!

1 cup frozen or fresh carrots
1 frozen or fresh mango, chopped
½ cup plain yogurt of choice
⅓ cup orange juice (can use bottled juice or 1 large freshly squeezed orange)
⅔ cup water

Blend all ingredients and enjoy. Serves 2.

[Photo of the author, Asha Mattai, in front of tropical plants. She is smiling.]

Asha Mattai is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Reiki practitioner who is passionate about helping clients to lose weight, reduce stress, and feel energized and refreshed. Learn more about Asha and her work at www.shapingyourhealth.com.

Recipes, Shaping Your Health

Shaping Your Health: Summer Smoothie Series, Red Edition!

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Welcome to the Summer Smoothie Series!  For the next few weeks, I’ll show you how to drink the colors of the rainbow.  There are so many delicious and unexpected fruit and vegetable combinations that make for a delicious breakfast or snack.  

Today we’ll start off with a Strawberry-Grapefruit Smoothie.  This smoothie is so refreshing and is perfect for summer.  The fact that it’s a nutrition powerhouse is an added bonus.

Strawberries are a very good source of Vitamin C, manganese, dietary fiber, iodine, and folate.

Grapefruits are great for lowering blood pressure and improving your heart health. Grapefruits have a powerful nutrient combination of fiber, potassium, lycopene, and Vitamin C.

[Birds-eye view of a glass containing a frozen red smoothie mixture. The background is patterned white and pink.]
Photo by Asha Mattai
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries

½ grapefruit, peeled and chopped

½ tablespoon ginger, peeled and chopped

1 small apple

1 cup water

Blend all ingredients and enjoy! Serves 2.

[Photo of the author, Asha Mattai, in front of tropical plants. She is smiling.]

Asha Mattai is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Reiki practitioner who is passionate about helping clients to lose weight, reduce stress, and feel energized and refreshed. Learn more about Asha and her work at www.shapingyourhealth.com.

Gabby Aron, Recipes

Gabby Aron: Better-than-Grandma’s Italian Three-Bean Salad

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[Looking directly down into a large bowl of colorful mixed beans and chopped vegetables.]
Photo by Gabby Aron
This salad is just like your Grandmother; it’s full of flavor, a little sassy, a bit crunchy yet soft, a little sweet, and gets better with a some time in air conditioning (the refrigerator). You can add almost any ingredient that you would consider to be Italian for immense flavor and beauty. Roasted red peppers, olives, parsley, basil, tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, all dancing together in the name of beans. It’s nutritious, satisfying, colorful, and absolutely delicious. It’s also excellent with a nice hunk of crusty Italian bread to soak up the delicious oil and vinegar, and all the other fabulous flavor.

Serves 10+

Prep time: About 45 minutes if beans are already cooked.

5 to 6 cups of cooked beans, I like to use a variety of chick peas, black beans, and kidney beans, but you can use any beans you like.

1 Large Red Onion finely chopped

1 medium bunch of Celery finely chopped

1 cup of chopped Roasted Red Peppers

1 cup of chopped Ripe Tomatoes of any kind

¾ cup of green olives halved

1/3 cup of chopped Parsley

1/3 cup of chopped Basil

1/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop all ingredients, mix together thoroughly, refrigerate for a minimum of two hours to allow flavors to blossom.

You can eat this salad as is, or add to a nice green salad, put it inside of pita pocked with some fresh mozzarella, or anything else you would like. Great for pot lucks, as an appetizer at a holiday party or any party. Enjoy!

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Gabby Aron is a private chef and nanny based in Highland Park.

Learning, Produce

A visit to the farm! #FarmToCoop #FiveMileFood

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Take a quick tour of one of the local farms growing the greens and berries you’ll find at the Co-op. Thanks to Kim and Green Duchess for your wonderful collaboration!

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We’re used to seeing strawberries at all times of year, but there is something special about these ephemeral beauties showing up in their natural season — short but very, very sweet.

[An alpaca from the neck up, looking directly at the viewer with ears perked]
Farm friends!
[Purple-gray leaves growing outward from a central point. Surrounded by green and yellow frilly leaves.]
Cabbage in its early stage of growth.
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Young tomato plants
Young tomato plants

 

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Hoops protect delicate leaves from pests and excessive sun, and they can be modified to hold in humidity and warmth.

[A row of green lettuce, angled away from the viewer. The closest heads are visible, and those behind are still covered by black mesh.]
Hoops and covers can also be used to extend a growing season and ready crops for harvest.
[Close up of butter lettuce head visible through a tear in the black mesh cover.]
Lettuce!
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A rainbow of chard nearly ready for harvest.

[Four trays of small sprouts, each in a different color and texture.]
Microgreens and sprouts. (We’re now taking special orders! If you’d like to have fresh microgreens picked just for you, speak to someone at the register.)
[The tips of scallions, which are holding up puffy-looking white and green flowers.]
How cool are these? Scallions (aka green onions) will eventually grow puffy-looking flowers at the tops of their stalks. They’re edible and great for bees.

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Red ruffled lettuce for days.
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Sometimes the grasses and weeds get through, and then we have crimson and clover.

[Low to the ground, several tiny radishes poking up from the soil. Most of the plant is frilly green leaves.]
Radishes are just starting to peak above ground.
[Looking down rows of mesh hoops and leafy green vegetables. A person in yellow rain gear is visible in the distance.]
Another reason to thank your farmer: the produce section stays dry, but they work in all weather to bring us all these gorgeous vegetables.
[A strawberry still on the plant. It's mottled white and red against a few green leaves and a bed of straw.]
Not quite ripe yet, but soon! The berries ripen at slightly different times over a couple of weeks, which makes the most of the season.

Tuscan kale beds, after the mature outer leaves have been trimmed and bundled for sale at the Co-op.
Tuscan kale beds, after the mature outer leaves have been trimmed and bundled for sale at the Co-op.

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Jamie is a Co-op member and volunteer. Her life is covered in a fine layer of sawdust, lemon zest, colored pencils, and whatever plant material gets caught in her hair.