green juice in the vitamix

Posted on March 2, 2013 by salt & pepper

I’m a big fan of green juice, but it’s so darn expensive. Little bottles like the ones you see above are over $10 each at a juice bar – craziness! And, since I have a tiny kitchen here in SF, there is no way I could fit a massive juicer on my countertop. There’d be no room for anything else! Luckily for me (and now, you) you can whip up a batch of green juice pretty quickly easily using your blender. I love love love my vitamix which makes everything incredibly smooth, but it should work with any blender, you may just need to blitz a few more times to get the right consistency.

Start by chopping up your fruit and veggies:

1 lemon
1 english cucumber
3-4 celery stalks
1-2 green apples (depending on how much sweetness you want to add)

Throw them into your blender with 3/4 cup of water and blitz away.

Now, add your greens:

big handful fresh parsley
2 big handfuls fresh spinach
1 big handful fresh kale (you can omit this if it seems to hardcore for you)

Finish with a big pinch of cayenne pepper. This sounds a bit odd, I know, but it gives the juice a nice kick.

Your juice will be really thick at this point, so you’ll need to thin it out a bit. Grab two bowls and pour the juice into the smaller of the bowls. Take a cup or two of juice at a time and add a 1-2 cups of water and re-blitz in your blender until you’ve reached a consistency that seems more juice-like than smoothie. Pour this into your second bowl and keep going until you’re done with all your juice. Pour into whatever small containers you have on hand and you’ll be good to go.

UPDATE : If you still find the juice too thick for your liking, use a sieve and use the bottom of a spoon to ‘push’ all of the juice through from the veggie solids.

Voila! That’s it – green juice to get you through the next few days!

super healthy chicken lettuce wraps

Posted on March 1, 2013 by salt & pepper

I’ve made a version of these before, but these are my new and improved recipe, with step-by-step photograph instructions. Slightly fiddly, since they have quite a few ingredients and steps, but well worth your while, I pinky swear!

Hop on over to The Daily Muse to check them out!

nicki’s chili

Posted on October 31, 2011 by salt & pepper

“passed down from generation to generation –

j/k I made it up yesterday”… Nicki

Here is a recipe from one of my best friends, Nicki. Sounds perfect for a cold winter night!

Nicki’s White Chicken Chili

2 lbs chicken cut into bite-sized cubes
1-2 tsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 jalapeno finely chopped- remove most seeds (remove all seeds if you don’t like it super spicy)
1 small can diced roasted green chilies
1 can white beans drained
1 14oz can stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup masa flour
2 cups water
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Chili seasoning

Toppings: mozzarella cheese, cilantro, sour cream, tortilla strips, raw onion

Brown chicken with olive oil, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Add water, masa flour, can of green chilis, can of tomatoes, and chili seasoning- bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer and cover with lid for 15 minutes. Uncover and add white beans, and cayenne pepper to taste. Cook for about another 15 mins uncovered (until thickens to your desired consistency). Serve over brown rice with corn bread on the side.

Nicely done, Nicks! It sounds so delicious!

let’s party like it’s 1981 in the oc and sd

Posted on September 1, 2011 by salt & pepper

After my fun filled weekend in San Diego I took the train up to Orange County so I could spend the week with my family. Let me just say, the train is the way to go… no traffic, beautiful scenery (even when gloomy like above!). Amazing.

Mum picked me up at the train station with yummy* green juice.

*relatively speaking

Look at these great veggies mum bought for us to barbeque that night…

We roasted some in the oven as well… a quick drizzle of olive oil, some salt and pepper, and then just pop in the oven at 350 degrees for thirty minutes or so.

chicken marinating in a lemony herby mixture

Check this out… this is my parent’s olive tree, and if you look closely you can see some baby tomatoes growing amongst the leaves. They never planted them there, but somehow they started growing!

mmm

so jealous of all mum’s herbs!!

chef’s bite

And take a look at these crazy flowers growing up the wall by our kitchen!

The next day I had some homemade granola with greek yogurt and berries for breakfast… greek yogurt has to be the best discovery ever, it’s so good.

We made two different salads for dinner… heirloom tomato with the creamiest of creamy burrata, drizzled with balsamic and olive oil and finished with a quick grind of salt and pepper.

And my current fav… mixed greens with goats cheese, cranberries and pistachios.

The next day my dad and I went to our favorite lunch spot for chicken tacos… Strawberry Canyon Golf Club. We’ve been going for years and they never disappoint. Plus they taste extra good if you sit outside… so peaceful.

That night my brother and I hit up P.F. Changs. We always start with the chicken lettuce cups… my healthy ones are a decent substitute, but you can’t beat the original!

We then shared the mongolian beef

and Chang’s spicy chicken. Delish.

The next morning I had my favorite breakfast since I was a child, boiled eggs and toasted soldiers. How cute is my egg cup? I got him in this exquisite chocolate shop in Nice, France when I went there for Easter in 2005.

On Thursday I made some turkey meatballs for the surprise party on Saturday. I winged the recipe a bit, but if you want a similar one take a look at Giada’s… I used her recipe the first time I made these.

I also made ‘turkeys in blankets’… turkey sausage wrapped in puff pastry.

pretty cute

D flew down Thursday night, and on Friday morning we hit up Cafe Zinc for breakfast.

The scones are ahmaaaaaazing.

We then went to Salt Creek beach, which happens to be the first beach I ever went to upon moving to the States.

It was a gorgeous day out there… I’m so glad we were able to fit in a couple of hours at the beach before we left to head down to San Diego for Noreen’s birthday!

I can see why Noreen loves Basic so much… this was the second time for me in one week and it was just as good!

Guess who ordered this one… girls or boys?

Yup, you guessed it.

Meat toppings = boys

We spent the night at Ayesha and Matt’s that night, which meant we were able to have lots of Zara time the next morning. Isn’t she gorgeous?!

yes, you!

We started prepping the food for the party that night. Tomato mozzarella skewers are a super easy appetizer to make, and are a great choice for a crowd… just skewer tomatoes and small mozzarella balls with basil leaves and drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette.

The turkeys in a blanket are super cute when you serve them with small bowls of ketchup and mustard.

We warmed up the meatballs and served them in a tomato sauce… also great the next day as leftovers with spaghetti!

Ayesha bought all of Noreen’s favorite 80′s candy… candy cigarette anyone?

Zara was very taken with the chips and dip we put out.

“Just one more” became her favorite three words…

Seriously, every photo of Zara has a chip in it!

and one more…

Last one?

Look how surprised Noreen is!

She honestly had no idea whatsoever!

My high school friends, Allison & Amanda, showed up in very fabulous 80′s splendor. Allison’s dress was once her mom’s, and has amazing fringe-y tassels on it. Amanda had a hot pink fanny pack… amazing!

And here’s my college crew!

Happy Birthday Noreen!

On Sunday morning we drove back to OC, and arrived home just as mum was finishing up her fabulous kumquat marmalade. I didn’t even think I liked marmalade until I tried mum’s. And it’s pretty cool that the kumquats used to make the jam are from a tree in their garden.

I took that cute round-shaped one back up to SF with me.

On another note, Yogurtland is doing a partnership with Hello Kitty… fun!

self-serve fro yo is so hip right now… I love it

(especially with hello kitty cups)

On the menu for our last night?

A simple salad with some barbecued filet mignon, chicken & sausages,

with some bubbly for the girls, of course!

I so wish we could barbeque more in sf…

food just tastes better when it’s grilled.

Mum made peach melba for dessert… a classic dessert from the 1890s where you remove the skins from peaches and toss in a homemade raspberry sauce. It’s funny how something so simple can be so crazy good.

Especially when served with the tart frozen yogurt that we picked up earlier…

completely and utterly delicious!

It was great to be home! I can’t wait to plan my next trip down.

simplest salad ever

Posted on August 4, 2011 by salt & pepper

I first had this salad when my mum made it for me one time that I was home…

seriously easy

seriously delicious

Toss mixed greens, cranberries, salted pistachios, creamy goats cheese together with whatever vinaigrette you like. That’s it. Nothing more. Your taste buds will thank me. Well, actually they’ll thank mum for coming up with such a yummy combo.