Mango Peach Passion

       I bet you can't guess the magic ingredient in this smoothie. The ingredient that turns it green. The ingredient that adds virtually no flavor, a little texture and a lot of nutrition.  I had Cale try; I gave him five opportunities and he never guessed it. I'll give you a couple hints: it is a vegetable, I have not used it in a smoothie recipe yet, and it makes a wonderful green smoothie.

       Ready for the answer: zucchini. Yep, zucchini is another magic vegetable, like spinach, its flavor is indistinguishable when blended with fruit. Zucchini adds vitamins A & C, calcium, iron, fiber and protein to this healthy fruit smoothie. 

Bean got a hold of the zucchini at the grocery store. Poor thing took a beating.

       This smoothie is fruity and full of tropical flavors. It is refreshing and a sweet treat that I feel good about having in the morning. I love starting my morning off with a smoothie and a poached egg. When I fuel my body with the vitamins and energy it needs I'm a much more productive and happy person. I'm sure you will love this smoothie as much as I do.


Mango Peach Passion Smoothie


1 banana
1 cup frozen mangoes
1 cup frozen peaches
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4-1/2 cup orange juice, depending on how thick you like your smoothie
1-2 medium zucchinis, roughly sliced


Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If you use 2 zucchinis you may need a little extra juice or water to thin the consistency. Enjoy!

Chicken Tikka Masala

       Each piece of food has an image. Some, like cupcakes, are supermodels and celebrities. Everyone wants to take a picture and get an autograph. They always look good no matter when the photograph is taken. Others, like tikka masala have sweet spirits, but no matter how hard you try, every picture turns out looking like a blob of slop on rice. It is hard to make tikka masala look appetizing. Luckily, once you get to know tikka masala, you ignore it's appearance. You close your eyes, take a deep breath and savor each and every bite of deliciousness.  Seriously, savor.
      This is my husband's birthday dish. He loves it, he always asks for it on his birthday. I recently took this to a recipe party and I didn't come home with any leftovers. If you are an Indian cuisine lover or curry fan...try this. If you're not...try it anyway. This dish may just make you a fan of Indian cuisine. 
      The chicken is moist and flavorful and the sauce is sweet, spicy, and tangy. The original recipe called for whole-milk yogurt, I rarely have whole-milk yogurt around, so I use any plain yogurt I have in the fridge. Don't use nonfat yogurt because it changes the texture of the chicken. 

      I use San Marzano tomatoes because they are my favorite. The tomato flavor is prominent in the sauce so make sure to use a canned tomato your family likes. If you want a spicier dish include the ribs and seeds from the chile. Have all your ingredients prepped, because once you start cooking there's not enough time to prep items in between. The sauce can be made up to 4 days ahead and gently reheated before adding chicken.


Chicken Tikka Masala
adapted slightly from Cook's Illustrated


Chicken Tikka
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt (do not use nonfat)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger


Masala Sauce
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh serrano or jalapeno chile, ribs and seeds removed, chile minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves


For the Chicken:
Mix spices and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with the spices mixture, pressing gently. Place chicken on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. In a large bowl, mix yogurt, oil, garlic and ginger; set aside


Sauce:
Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add onion and cook stirring frequently, until light golden 8-10 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, chile, tomato paste and garam masala; cook stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.


While sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat broiler. Dip chicken into yogurt mixture and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined baking sheet, or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture. Broil chicken until lightly charred in spots and juices run clear, about 10-18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through.


Let chicken rest for 5 minutes, then cut into chunks and stir into warm sauce. Do not simmer chicken in sauce, you don't want it to keep cooking. Stir in cilantro, season with salt if needed and serve over basmati rice.

Oat Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

      Many of you know that I try to avoid wheat when possible, partly because of the Beanster and partly because of my own stomach issues. When I saw these oat pancakes I knew I needed to try them...and I'm glad I did! These pancakes come together really quickly. No fussy pancake instructions, just throw everything into a blender or food processor and blend. These pancakes are barely-sweet and make the perfect accompaniment for the strawberry syrup I made to go with them. They are a little hardier than the average pancake and taste a little 'oaty'. If you are not a fan of oatmeal, you should still try these pancakes, they don't taste anything like the bowl of hot mush you might be picturing when I say 'oaty'.        

      Oat pancakes are extremely versatile. I love recipes that can be made and served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. With a few adjustments of toppings these pancakes make a quick meal anytime of day. The pancakes would also be wonderful with fresh yogurt and warm maple syrup, or served as dinner with caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms and greens.

       The strawberry syrup is sweet and fruity. When I think of oats, the next flavor I think of  is fruit. I love fruit in my oatmeal (hot mush), raisins in my oatmeal cookies, and strawberries on pancakes. This strawberry syrup makes a lot and I've used it this week along with my homemade yogurt to make strawberry yogurt for Bean. He loves it! Depending on the sweetness of your berries, you might want to cut back, up to 1/4 cup, on the sugar. I bought the first berries I found and they were a little on the sour side. The strawberries had large white/green parts on the berries that I cut off when I chopped them up, but they gave me the fresh strawberry fix I needed.

     No matter when you make these pancakes or what you serve with them, I'm sure you will agree that they are very tasty.

Oat Pancakes

Note: I used a full cup of old-fashioned oats for my pancakes and excluded the AP Flour. They were a little darker and flatter than the ones pictured above that I made for my husband, recipe follows.

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (quick cooking will work as well)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 egg

Place oat, flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and egg in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled grill pan or nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup or less for each pancake. Cook and flip pancakes over. When both sides are golden in color and the middle of the pancake is cooked through remove and enjoy.

Strawberry Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups roughly chopped fresh strawberries

1 lemon, juiced 

Combine sugar, cornstarch, spices in a saucepan and stir in berries. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until juices look thickened. Blend mixture until syrup reaches desired consistency. Stir in juice from one lemon and serve warm, or refrigerate until cool. This syrup will keep at least 1 week in the refrigerator, we've always used it before the second week.