My Green Kitchen: Cucumber Banana Smoothie

It seems we've been hit with the 'I Quit Sugar' craze that is proving as popular as The Paleo Diet and raw living food. Move over chia seeds, you've had your day in the spotlight (just kidding, I still love you, chia!).

Ever woken up and thought to yourself, 'I want something fresh for breakfast, not too sweet.' ? I had one such morning on Tuesday and this cucumber, green capsicum and banana smoothie was the answer. Stand by to have your preconceptions about smoothies blown out of the blender! Think cool, fresh, and green and you're almost there.

This smoothie will give you the energy to take the beach steps, two at a time.

If you are starting out on the I Quit Sugar diet, it is recommended that you exclude high fructose fruit, such as bananas. I've never gone on a fad diet however, I do prepare gluten-free meals to cater for my gluten intolerance- That's not a 'fad diet' choice, it's a necessity. I try to nourish my body with healthy food and firmly believe that what I eat should be a lifestyle choice, not a 12 week plan or a two week detox. Instead I am mindful of what I eat and make an effort to eat fresh, unprocessed and organic foods, substituting in raw foods here and there. Byron and I exercise several times per week, Coco (our little dog) is the best motivator around for encouraging long runs along the beach. I also happen to live in a region famous for local, organic bananas and as such, I have decided to keep bananas in my meal rotation because they taste so good!

Green Smoothie: Cucumber Banana Smoothie
Serves 2

1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled
1 green capsicum, deseeded
1 ripe banana
1 Tbs hemp powder or hemp oil
1 tsp maca root powder
1/2 tsp spirulina
1 1/2 cups chilled, unsweetened almond milk

Blend until smooth in a high power blender, for a thicker smoothie add 1 to 2 tablespoons of unsweetened natural or Greek yoghurt. You can always opt to exchange the banana for an avocado in this recipe. Doing this will lose some of the natural sugar found in the banana. To sweeten, blend a date, two drops of stevia or some agave nectar to taste. Serve with a slice of fresh cucumber to garnish. Enjoy before a relaxing beach walk. Take the stairs.

The fresh flavour of this smoothie lies in the ingredients. It has almost a savoury quality due to the addition of cucumber and capsicum and from a culinary standpoint, it might seem a little strange for a smoothie to be both sweet and savoury but I urge you to try it anyway. It's delicious!

Bella xx

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Our Little Herb Garden

Late last year, as the daylight hours grew longer with each passing day and the temperature began to soar, we packed up our entire lives into cardboard boxes and moved to a beautiful seaside house.

Within our first week I had accumulated the first seeds for my future vegetable garden. I hastily planted a rosemary root, plucked from my mother's garden, planted cherry tomato seeds and pushed tiny black basil seeds into the soft earth.

Fast forward almost three gorgeous Summery months and the dried, spiky brown rosemary root has been ripped from it's tiny grave and tossed into the green waste bin for collection. How does one kill rosemary? My mother said it was one of the most durable, low-maintenance plants to have in my garden and that I couldn't kill it if I wanted to.

Well I sure showed her... I'm not proud of this.

Luckily the basil took off and we can use the first leaves very soon. I cannot wait to serve a meal with fresh produce from my garden, it will almost make up for helplessly standing by and watching as the rosemary faded from lively green to deathly brown. Almost.

Yesterday I decided that I would plant seedlings in premium potting mixture with the finest vegetable fertiliser available. I spent the afternoon heaving 15kg bags of potting mixture into a shopping trolley with a broken wheel. Unfortunately I did not realise the trolley wheel was broken until I tried to navigate my way through the checkout, then zig-zag across a massive car park. I'll call it exercise, my spectators might have called it comedy.

I watered the tiny seedlings as soon as I arrived home, placed them in a sheltered area in our garden and went to bed, dreaming of crunchy green cucumbers, firm red tomatoes and bulging purple aubergines.

When I woke up, I skipped down the stairs wearing my 'Gardening Clothes' because it was time to get serious. I was covered in the daggy threads one might consider throwing into the rubbish bin, but not me! Once outside in the bright sunshine, I began the painstaking work of lifting rocks out of the ground, digging deep into the dirt and removing the soil (Read: It was actually sand, not soil) that had sucked the life out of my rosemary.

On a day where the temperature soared to 32 degrees Celsius (that's about 90 degrees Fahrenheit), I managed to plant cherry tomatoes, eggplant and some of my herbs, including one of my favourite herbs, sage.

I took a break in the warmest part of the day and was surprised to discover how much cooler it was inside. I cooked a traditional Massaman curry for dinner, it's on the stove right now as a matter of fact (smiles smugly) and tomorrow I am looking forward to planting the following: Vibrant green stalks of Italian parsley, a small bay tree with shiny dark green leaves, oregano, fresh mint and tiny cucumber seedlings.

I'll keep you updated on the planting progress and what I eventually prepare with the vegetables and herbs freshly grown in our little green garden.

Backyard bliss!

Bella xx

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Thai Sweet Chilli and Peanut Sauce

Last post I mentioned I'd share my recipe for fresh spring rolls with two dipping sauces. This post is all about one of those sauces. I chose to write about this before the spring rolls because you can keep the sauce for a few days and the flavour improves after all the ingredients settle together. If you're like me though, you'll probably want to eat it straightaway because it's delectable.

This is a simple, traditional Thai recipe from an old cookbook Mum gave to me containing recipes direct from market stalls in the streets of various Thai cities.

Thai Sweet Chilli and Peanut Sauce:

1 long red chilli
1 pinch salt
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tbs dry roasted peanuts, ground or chopped finely
OR 1 heaped Tbs of SUPER crunchy peanut butter

Pound the chillies and salt together, then add the garlic and grind to a thick paste (I could not find my mortar and pestle since moving house so I used the blunt end of a rolling pin). Add the paste to a small saucepan, pour in the vinegar and sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally until thick.

Set aside to cool, before adding the chopped peanuts. I used super crunchy peanut butter because I forgot the peanuts!! Never fear, it added a smooth, creamy quality to the sauce.

The flavour of this sauce is sweet, with a hint of heat from the chilli, and the texture is smooth, with crunchy peanut pieces.

Best served at room temperature or slightly warm, this is a delicious sauce that you can use for grilled pork, prawn or chicken skewers, crunchy prawn cakes, and fresh spring rolls.

Variation: I work with a Thai-Australian girl, who had a recipe for a cucumber sauce that her mother makes. Replace part of the sugar with a tsp of tamarind paste (you don't want it too sweet), and instead of adding peanuts at the end, stir freshly diced cucumber into the cool mixture. It's an absolute treat!

ขอให้เจริญอาหาร! (kŏr hâi jà-rern aa-hăan!)

Bella xx

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The Sparkly Story of Hendrick's Harmony with Twinkling Tonic and the Courageous Cucumber Pepper Tribe

Good Mid-Morning Lady-Girls and Gentle Males!

Thus far our heroine has enjoyed a sweetly refreshing effervescent liquid, a lovely bubbly treat, a spectacular sparkling clear liquid crystal delight, a delectable drinking potion: A Hendrick's and Tonic with Cucumber and Cracked Pepper.

Happy unweekend to you peppery people who sprinkle rest days before typical Samedi-Dimanche work halts and adhere to roster fiasco hobjobs amongst the twinkle flicker of the bright lights in a slumberless city.

Take one glass bulbous balloon tank and fill with the chinka-chink topple of ice cube crystal boxes. Pour a slippery splash of heavenly Hendrick's gin into the glistening glass and top with a bubbling flow of liquefied tonic water, straight from your electric chill chamber.

The perplexingly smooth gas spheres form the suarvest relationship when introduced to your finest sliced curious cucumber wheels and a cracking or three of the tricolour pepper seed grinder man.

It will stupefy with sparklish wonder, astound and flabbergast the tongue feelers.
Now doesn't that scintillate your glimmering taste tubes and sip-satisfy your Thursday thirst?

Sip, slurp and savour.


Bella
xx

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