An update on Smoothies and other fine foods

UPDATE  - If you want to really get your freak on, replace the banana in the Smoothie recipe below with half an avocado, as ripe as you can find. You'll want a little more sweet stuff if you go this route, maybe a few drops of Agave nectar. Danny G knows him some Asian cuisine, and he turned me on to the fact that avocado is used in desserts all over that part of the world. It's only us Tex-Mex loving Westerners who decided to use it in savory dishes. As they say, a billion Chinese folks (plus their Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, etc, neighbors) can't be wrong.  Plus, that pit makes a helluva conversation piece at the Testicular Cancer Support Group (it's OK, there's a dude in that group making fun of my missing 13 inches of colon as we speak).

And in case you missed it in the comments, Ghila sent a link to a site that has terrific recipes that happen to align many of the suggestions from the great book Anticancer, A New Way of Life, New Edition by David Servan-Schreiber. Here's the link. http://www.bwell4life.com/bwell4life/Recipe_Index.html

So far I've tried the Salmon Curry Soup, the Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup, and the Quinoa Saute. All easy to make and delish! Tom from work was planning to try the Sweet Potato Pancakes - report please!

What's Your Favorite Food?

It's a question that comes up from time to time, and I often struggle to answer. As the chief cook (but thankfully not bottle washer) in Ristorante Beskind, I'm usually the Decider when it comes to what goes on the table. I'm finding that my goal of eating all healthy, organic, cancer-fighting foods isn't easy, especially in Week 1 after chemo, when I just want lots of comfortable, bland foods - breads, rice, potatoes, and the like.

But when I am eating healthy - whether cancer-fighting or just being Me, my favorite food just might be The Smoothie. Not the ones they sell next to yogurt at Publix, and not 80% ice, 20% stuff they sell you for $5 at Smoothie King. No, a real Smoothie has no added ice or water, just fruit, protein, OJ, and if you're feeling all Whole Foodsie, a little flax seed. As a service to you, dear readers, I share with you a recipe, even though many of you know I normally use such instructions merely as suggestions, not formulae to be followed to the letter. The secret my friends is to replace the ice with frozen strawberries. That gets you the cold without turning the thing into a Majic Market Slushie (Oak Grove Road 1976 - who remembers?).

Here's what you do:

Put 4 - 5 frozen strawberries in the blender (I like sliced ones, but whole work too)
Half Fill the blender with cold water and swirl the berries by hand until slightly thawed (10 - 15 sec for whole, less for sliced). Note: if you just turned your blender on, you screwed up. Dump and start over.
Drain the water

Add (in order) : 
1 - 2 scoops of your favorite Protein Powder (Vanilla is best - try Trader Joe's Soy if you don't have a favorite)
1 tsp ground flax seed - because unless you nosh on anchovies, you need more Omega 3's in your diet
Small Berries - fresh or frozen blue, black, or rasp. about the same volume as the frozen strawberries above, and if you're going to splurge on organic, this is where you do it. Berries soak up pesticide like they're Bounty. You want mango too? I'm good with that.
1 banana - more ripe is better, it puts the smooth in smoothie
OJ to taste/texture. You'll need some, but too much turns this into fruit punch. Start with a couple ounces and add if you can't suck the results through a straw.

Blend until, well, smooth

Enjoy your perfect power breakfast/ post-run recovery drink/ kid snack. If that's not the best smoothie you've had, especially compared to the franchise variety, I'll give you double your money back. Or better yet, come to my house so we can diagnose what you did wrong. There is one Smoothie King, and he is me, but I am a benevolent despot.

PS - A word about blenders: here's where the franchise smoothie places get it right. Get the least-featured, loudest, one-speed beast your spouse will allow you to keep on the counter. That 18 speed Black & Decker Turbo Widow Maker with the Target red trim need not apply.