Book Review: 100 Health-Boosting Drinks: Juices, Smoothies, Coolers, Infusions and Soups

100 Health-Boosting Drinks: Juices, Smoothies, Coolers, Infusions and Soups

There are recipes for juices, smoothies, soups, etc all over the Net. So, why would you shell about USD 10 for another recipe book? Especially on juices when its so simple to make - I mean, how hard is it to throw in a few fruits or veggies into a blender and get a juice/smoothie in 5 minutes?! Add to that, we here in India, dont get all those luscious berries and stuff like celery, nettles etc commonly. So what in the world was I going to do with this book?

To be honest, I just really, really liked the colorful photos! Each recipe has a full page photo alongside! And sometimes, that's reason enough to buy something. I bought it alongside Jamie Oliver Does Italy, Morocco et all. The former for the eye candy; the latter for the guy candy.

But to be fair, the book does have a nice intro - with drinks/smoothies classified by ailment. Have a hangover from hell? Try the Karma Kooler or the Beet This. Low fertility? Try the Tofu and mussel soup (Though I wont!)

All images in this post copyright of the book authors/Hamlyn, obviously.

Here's a recipe for low energy:
Power Pack

• 1 orange
• 250 grams carrots
• 125 grams beetroot
• 125 grams strawberries, hulled
• ice cubes

Juice the carrots, beets, and orange. Put the juice into a blender with the ice cubes and strawberries. Blend for 20 more seconds and serve in a tall glass with orange rind strips for decoration.


To buy: http://www.amazon.com/100-Health-Boosting-Drinks-Smoothies-Infusions/dp/0600613283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291007763&sr=8-1

Resources for a Raw/Vegan Lifestyle

Food Gawker; http://www.foodgawker.com/

Finding Vegan: http://www.findingvegan.com/

Really Raw Food: http://www.reallyrawfood.com/forum/

Beautiful on Raw: http://www.beautifulonraw.com/

Purely Raw: http://www.purelyraw.com/websites.htm

The Best of Raw Food: http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/

Planet Raw (Juliano's web site): http://www.planetraw.com/

RAWFu: http://raw100.ning.com/

Give it to me raw: http://www.giveittomeraw.com/

Gone Raw: http://www.goneraw.com/

Gluten free recipes: http://gfrecipes.com/

Best Vegan Blogs: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/07/best-vegan-blogs.html

100 Blogs Leading the Food Revolution: http://www.physicaltherapyassistantschools.org/100-blogs-leading-the-food-revolution/


50 Best food blogs: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article5561425.ece

Foodie Blogroll: http://www.foodieblogroll.com/

Taste of Vitality (free vegan ebook): http://www.vitalita.com/vcg/cookbooks/a_taste_of_vitality_book.html

The Veggie Queen: http://www.theveggiequeen.com/

The Veggie Barn: http://www.veggiebarn.net/

Zel Allen: http://www.vegparadise.com/
 
Navitas Naturals: http://www.navitasnaturals.com/

Me: Have a bunch of e-books collected from the past three months, which I'd be happy to share with anyone who requests for it. Just send me an email at raw.girl.in.mumbai@gmail.com with "Send me ebooks" as the subject line.

Asparagus Sesame Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• Handful of asparagus
• Some red pepper
• Teaspoon of white sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• Quarter of an onion, chopped
• A thumb-sized portion of fresh ginger, julienned

Firstly, the asparagus either has to be tender or young enough to eat raw. I wouldn't boil the asparagus before the "stir fry" either. Have it raw so that its crunchy along with the sesame seeds.

So, to begin, chop the onion and the ginger. Saute them for a minute in a wok on a high flame.

Add the asparagus to the wok - The object is just to get it coated in oil, NOT to cook the asparagus all the way through. So turn off the gas in another minute or so.

Once off the flame, add the sesame seeds and the sliced peppers. Mix well and enjoy immediately.

Zuccini, Asparagus and Peppers Salad

It's been a week since I got all my produce from the Farmer's Market and I still have plenty of it left over! Add to that I come home really late at night from work and dont feel like spending any time in the kitchen, and just ordering a Subway on my way home.

But I didnt want my very expensive zuccini and asparagus wither away in shame. So, salads is was!

To make, you'll need:

• Some asparagus (boiled for 2 minutes)
• 1/2 zuccini
• 1/2 a red pepper
• 1/2 a yellow pepper
• 1/2 a green pepper
• 1/2 a ripe tomato
• 2-3 small Indian aubergines (boiled for a minute)
• Some lettuce leaves
• Handful of olives
• Spoonful of olive oil

To make:
Start off with the chopped peppers and lettuce leaves

 Add the boiled asparagus....

 Then the zuccini ...Its a shame to have boiled zuccini..So definitely have it raw.

 Chopped tomatoes go in next.

 Then the aubergines and the olives...

Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Remember the tomatoes are going to leave their juices as well, so dont add a lot of olive oil.

Here's the final product:

How to Bake

Don't ask me - I havent the faintest clue. Though, I absolutely love the smell of baked goods and am really intrigued about making bread or a vegetable cake.

Here's an excellent and really comprehensive e-book on How To Bake I found today on tPB.

My Miso Soup

I had this for dinner last nite as I was eager to taste what Korean miso tastes and looks like - definitely a lot darker in color than the Japanese one - almost a brick or burnt red color. I wanted to stay true to the original recipe and make it just with miso paste and tofu, but I made the mistake of putting my tofu in the freezer and it wouldn't thaw fast enough for my post-work hunger. So I improvised with cabbage, baby corn and asparagus. I boiled the asparagus for 2-3 minutes, which did leave some of the stalks a bit chewy and sinewy - So, I'd recommend boiling them for an additional minute or so.

Ingredients:

• 1 large tablespoon of Korean miso
• Two baby corns, chop into bite size morsels
• A big handful of green cabbage, julienned
• A small handful of asparagus (stalks?)
• A small knob of ginger
• Sesame seeds to garnish

To make:

• Boil the cut asparagus for 3-5 minutes.
• Drain and plunge into ice water.
• Retain the water used to boil the asparagus.
• Pour some of it over the miso paste in a seperate bowl.
• Stir till the miso is dissolved and gives off a lovely brown color.
• Add that back to the asparagus water.
• Add the ginger, finely chopped, to the boiling water.
• Put this back on the gas and bring to a boil, then turn off the gas.
• In your serving bowl, add the cabbage, corn and asparagus at the bottom of the bowl.
• Pour over your miso-ginger water over the vegetables in the bowl.
• Garnish with sesame seeds on top.
• Serve immediately.

Note: I did not forget to mention salt. The miso is salty enough on its own. Plus, I dont use salt or sugar.

Time to make: 5-10 minutes, tops.

Salads Galore

I'm giving my blender a break and using up my abundant, organic harvest from Sunday. So, salads it is! Yesterday it was my Veggie Delight Salad, and today for lunch I had my Carrot Salad with Tahini Sauce.

Veggie Delight Salad:

Toss together:

• Baby lettuce
• Red pepper
• Yellow pepper
• Green pepper
• Black and green olives
• Cucumber slices
• Red cabbage
• Dried basil

I added some of the salty water from the olives and left it overnight in the refrigerator -So I didnt need any dressing.

Carrot Tahini Salad

• 2 Whole Organic Carrots
• Some asparagus ends
• Sunflower seeds
• Handful of raisins
• Handful of black olives
• 1 tablespoon of tahini paste

To make:

• Cut the carrots into thin strips.
• Boil the asparagus for 3-5 minutes and immediately submerge into icy water to retain the color and stop the cooking.
• Toss the carrots, asparagus, olives and raisins together. Then add the dressing before you eat it. The sunflower seeds go in last for the crunch.
• Dressing: Add some water and lime juice to your tahini paste and mix it together till there are no lumps.

Note that the tahini is going to make the salad extremely filling (I still have 1/3rd of my salad from lunch left over!), so you may want to reduce the portions.
Also note that the tahini dressing will dry up as the day goes on. It wont go bad, but the salad's a lot yummier when the dressing is still liquid.

Sunday Shopping at the Farmers Market and Nature's Basket

The kind folks at The Farmer's Market tempted me there today for a visit with promises of organic avocados...I've been meaning to get them forever, but cant seem to find them anywhere. So, off I went to Wind Chimes Playschool, Bandra, to buy 2 kilos worth. Avocado season is over, said the farmers at the market. So I was a bit annoyed having travelled more than 30 kilometers just for the avocados! Determined not to let this little setback ruin my Sunday, here's what else I bought at the farmers market, and just ahead of the road at Nature's Basket. All organic and locally sourced produce at the farmers market - Can't wait to dig into my carrot salad with tahini dressing and sunflower seeds!!!

Gotta say, I LOVE Nature's Basket!!! Feel like a kid in candyland.  - Liquorice, olives, sunflower seeds (been searching for ages since I finished my last pack from California), peppers, and a wild card - Korean, not Japanese Miso. Now that I have it, I'll look for recipes to build around the ingredients I have - Like this miso soup recipe.



Sunflower seeds, green and black olives, jalepeno peppers, Korean miso, liquorice candy



Very excited about the miso!!!





Organic Asparagus



Add caption





They even handed me a leaflet of recipes to make with my asparagus



Organic carrots are butt ugly! ;)



Zuccini




Dont they look oh so pretty?





Organic gluten and sugar free muffins (Got a bit mushy on my way home)



This one's made of ragi, I think.

My Very Own Walnut, Date, and Orange Zest Balls

Raw and vegan power balls - a tasty and healthy treat.

Ingredients:

• About 200 grams of unsalted walnuts
• About 200 grams of dates (deseeded)
• Zest of an orange -- about a fist full - The imported big oranges work better than the local ones.

To make:

• Grind the walnuts to a granular powder in a blender - I prefer a bit of uneven chunkiness. Set aside.
• Grind the dates or finely chop them up.
• Grate the zest of an orange.
• Using these three ingredients, form a dough, mixing all three well together.
• Form bars or balls in the size you desire.
• Refrigerate for some time

Serving: Will make about 25 laddoos.

PS: Unlike the last time I made these kinds of balls, I left out honey or water - so that this time the "dough" was really dry. That way I dont have to leave the balls out in the sun to dry out the excess moistness.

Tahini Time

So...I've been meaning to make Tahini for the last few days now but reaching home tired at 8.30 pm or later really zaps my culinary intentions. I already bought 1/2 pound of white unhulled sesame seeds (plus, poppy seeds, walnuts, and black salt) from Crawford market last weekend when I was showing someone around town - Gosh they are expensive!! So what I am going to do is use half the sesame seeds to make my dates+some seed bars. The other half I'll try my hand at making Tahini.

As far as dishes go, this one really is just too simple. Just two basic ingredients: sesame seeds and oil. However, as with all good things in life, no one seems to agree on the exact amounts of each of these ingredients. Proportions will vary widely the more you look it up on the net. To make tahini sauce, just add more water, lime and a garlic clove.

Here's a fairly decent recipe - However, I will be making my raw - so no roasting beforehand.