Lisa on August 11th, 2010

As my regular readers know, when I discover a new ingredient or a new way to use a tried-and-true ingredient, I go on a [fill in the blank] kick.  This time, it’s macadamia nut butter.  I started out dipping 90% dark chocolate squares into it (UNbelievable!), then made salad dressings out of it, and now [...]

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Lisa on July 16th, 2010

Dates are fabulously useful!  Just don’t confuse them with figs, which are also lovely but which don’t have the staying power or sweetness of dates.  (And don’t confuse fresh figs with the gritty stuff inside Fig Newtons — an actual fig tastes much lighter and fruitier, plus it beautifully shades from pink to cream to [...]

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Lisa on May 26th, 2010

In the tradition of memorable beverages like the Harvey Wallbanger and the Arnold Palmer, I’m going to name my most recent smoothie/cocktail creation after my friend Jill.  Why?  Because she’s nuts about watermelons — she’s capable of consuming an entire melon in one sitting.  (I wish I could do the same with my beloved pineapples, [...]

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Lisa on April 23rd, 2010

Upfront disclosure to the mousse die-hards out there: this is not a true mousse.  True mousses are made with eggs — they’re the key ingredient, in fact — whereas this one is made with macadamia nut butter.  Still, the nutty richness of the macadamia butter is very reminiscent of an eggy richness, and both the [...]

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Lisa on April 5th, 2010

Here’s some fruit trivia for the day: what’s the difference between a Hawaiian papaya and a maradol papaya?  The latter is from Mexico and is visually very different than the vaguely-pear-shaped Hawaiian variety — maradols are almost a foot long and have much darker flesh.  Both, however, have a wonderfully smooth tropical flavor; both blend [...]

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Lisa on February 3rd, 2010

Who doesn’t like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?  Peanut butter and chocolate just go together.  But I guarantee that once you make your own PB&C in solid form or smoothie/shake form, you won’t ever want to go back to the prepackaged kind.  The homemade variety tastes better, it’s a whole lot better for your health, [...]

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Lisa on September 16th, 2009

In the U.S., we tend to view avocadoes as a savory vegetable, to be served alongside tacos as guacamole or to be sliced and used as a sandwich topping.  In other areas of the world, though, you’re just as likely to find avocadoes on the dessert menu:  in Tanzania, avocado ice cream is a favorite; [...]

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Lisa on March 27th, 2009

Making this smoothie is as easy as pie–and since it has a healthy helping of pecans accented by spices, it even tastes a bit like a pecan pie. I used almond milk as the base, but you could also use hazelnut, oat, or high-quality dairy milk. (Raw and grass-fed if you can get [...]

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Lisa on January 25th, 2009

Here’s a lush breakfast treat:  a banana-flaxseed smoothie.  Only having three ingredients makes it simple, the combination of organic milk (or non-dairy milk) and banana makes it velvety-smooth, and the flaxseeds give it a nice boost of flavor.  They also lend the smoothie a healthy dose of omega-3s since flaxseeds are higher in omega-3s than [...]

Continue reading about France Has Bordeaux, You Have Bananas

Lisa on December 7th, 2008

Does anyone else have fond memories of going to the mall as a kid and getting an Orange Julius? That used to be my favorite treat. Twenty years ago, you could find Orange Julius mixes in packets at the grocery store, too. All you had to do was add milk and blend [...]

Continue reading about All Hail Julius !