Good Morning from Tokyo!
Or more accurately, from Hikari 509, a shinkansen (awesome fast train)
somewhere between Tokyo and Kyoto.
I must admit I had grand plans to write so many blog posts on the 13 hour flight here, but no sooner did I hit the airport (or the airport bar) OR spend 2+ hours sitting on the tarmac being gently lulled to sleep by jet fumes did all those grandiose plans go right out the window.
So we’re going to keep it short and sweet (well as sweet as you like your almond milk) this morning, and get right to a simple and delicious way to make your own nut milks at home. It’s cheaper and tastier than the store bought stuff, takes only a few minutes to make, and requires only two ingredients! Although I usually toss in a few dates, a little vanilla and a pinch of salt as well.
Creamy & delicious, you can make this almond milk with as few as two ingredients!
Ingredients
1 cup almonds
3-4 cups filtered water
additional water for soaking
3 dates optional
1” vanilla bean scraped or 1 teaspoon vanilla optional
pinch of salt
Instructions
Soak almonds in a bowl just covered with filtered water for 12-24 hours.
Rinse almonds then toss in blender with 3-4 cups water and dates if desired.
Blend 1 minute on low, then 2 minutes on high speed.
Pour mixture into a nut milk bag and strain out almond pulp OR pour through strainer/cheese cloth until no solids remain.
Rinse out blender then pour newly strained milk back into blender, add salt, and if desired, vanilla, and blend.
Notes
For extra thick/creamy almond milk, soak the almonds for closer to 24 hours and use only 3 cups water when blending. In a "hurry" though, almonds that have soaked overnight will do just fine! Store your almond milk in a mason jar or other sealed container in your refrigerator for about 5 days.
3.2.1290
ps. Check out the view from my window:
pps. Come follow my adventures in Japan on instagram!
ppps. Do you frequently fly for work? How do you get anything done on the plane?
I only seem to be good at reading books and drinking beer!
“I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.” –Groucho Marx
Hello everyone, my name is Tabitha and I live in Los Angeles.
Hello Tabitha…
In other words, jackpot!
I’m pretty sure this recipe is the golden ticket for hesitant Angelenos like myself to officially join the club.
Not to mention I’ve been here for ten years already.
Now how did that happen?
While I can’t easily explain where ten years went (the hallmark of getting old?!)
I can pinpoint the birth of my love of green juice. And I can blame a New Yorker!
See, whenever my friend would come to town and we’d style commercials together,
she’d insist on lots of healthy juices and luxury health snacks.
Yes, I use the word luxury to describe an eight dollar juice.
Another word would be insanely ridiculous.
Oops, that’s two words.
Choose your own adventure!
Commercial styling is no joke, so the fact that you can turn in receipts for multiple juice fixes a day is definitely a redeeming factor. Oh, and the paycheck. Honesty folks, it’s what’s for breakfast.
And green juice.
But even with my love of green juice, I’d stayed away from smoothies for the longest time.
They just seemed like fruit & ice masquerading as a milkshake, and for $8, I didn’t want any impostors. (or any ice!)
Then I discovered the secret to a great smoothie: frozen bananas.
I should have known, since frozen bananas in the food processor make the best single ingredient sorbet ever! Silly Me! Anyhow, they keep everything nice and cold sans ice, and make your smoothie incredibly creamy.
I quickly moved on to frozen pineapple, and BAM! New favorite breakfast smoothie.
Now I just peel, chop and freeze 6 or 7 ripe bananas and a pineapple every week,
and then these smoothies take no time at all to throw together. Maybe 2 minutes.
So whether you want to save a buck, or you’ve just been hesitant to say yes please to bunch of kale in your morning milkshake, you should give this recipe a try!
The banana and pineapple are a sweet combo, and the mint is so refreshing that before you know it (or taste it) you’ll have downed an entire cup (or two!) of greens.
It’s quicker, cheaper, and healthier than a cup of coffee,
and seems like dessert for breakfast.
Enjoy!
This is my favorite breakfast smoothie! The banana and pineapple are a sweet combo, and the kick of mint is so refreshing that before you know it (or taste it) you’ll have downed an entire cup (or two!) of greens.
Ingredients
1 cup frozen banana (1 banana)
1 cup frozen pineapple
2 cups kale or other leafy green
1- 1.5 cup almond milk
mint leaves to taste (4-5)
Instructions
Add banana, pineapple, mint and almond milk to blender and blend on high until creamy. Add more almond milk if necessary.
Add greens to blender and use a spoon to shove them down into the smoothie.
Then blend until they are fully incorporated.
Notes
You don't need a fancy blender to make this delicious smoothie!
Hello again internet, you lovely ravenous beast you!
And hello lovely, non-existent readers.
I want to throw cookies at you.
And vegetables.
And crafts.
But today, because diving back into blogging is a little scary the third time around, I am offering up the most comforting soup I know.
Now, not to hit the nail on the head or anything, but here I go, dangling the proverbial carrot in an attempt to entice you to stay awhile (or come back when there’s more to see) and enjoy a big creamy bowl of curried carrot soup.
It really is an amazing bowl, full of complex (fancy speak for yummy) flavors, and it only takes a few simple ingredients to make. It’s cheap, and vegan/gluten free too. But I wouldn’t bother telling anybody that.
Okay, maybe the cheap part. Everybody loves a bargain, right?
Also, as someone who doesn’t often love cooked carrots in all their nasty mushy sweet glory, I promise you, covering them in curry and roasting them until they’ve caramelized really is the way to go. It’s actually a miracle these carrots ever make it from the roasting pan into to the soup at all, the way we snack on them, risking burnt tongues, as soon as they’re out of the oven.
The genius idea to infuse the stock with ginger is inspired by Reeve’s Roasted Carrot Soup, and it gives every bite a warm and spicy little kick. A carrot can-can in your mouth, so to speak. So while this recipe is not a one-pot wonder, please, please don’t skip the delicious ginger infusion step!
This is the way I like to do it:
I dump the stock, ginger and herbs in a pot on the stove and simmer.
Meanwhile, I peel/chop the carrots, and then spread them on the baking sheet and cover with olive oil, curry, salt, pepper. Once the carrots are in the oven, I chop the shallots, leek, and garlic and saute them in my dutch oven or stockpot. The carrots come out of the oven, very nearly escape my mouth, and are added to the shallot/leek/garlic mixture, and then a few minutes later I strain the stock into the dutch oven as well. It all happily co-mingles for a bit, and then I puree the whole mess in my blender, sometimes adding some nut milk. Sometimes not.
At this point it’s perfectly delicious and just begging to spend some quality time with you, a good book and a warm blanket on your couch, but I often fancy it up and add a little creme fraiche/pistachios. I’m even thinking of pouring it into shot glasses this Easter and serving it as a tasty little amuse bouche. Ooh la la!
This is the creamiest, most flavorful vegan soup I've ever tasted (even without the nut milk). It feels fancy enough for company, but also pairs well with pajamas and a good book.
Ingredients
7-8 carrots peeled/chopped
3 shallots chopped
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1 leek chopped
knob of fresh ginger peeled
few sprigs of thyme or rosemary
2 tablespoons curry powder
6 cups vegetable stock
¼ cup nut milk
olive oil
salt
pepper
Instructions
Bring 6 cups vegetable stock to boil in a pot with thyme/rosemary and knob of ginger (2")
Reduce heat and simmer.
Roast carrots on cookie sheet/roasting pan with a little olive oil, curry powder, and salt/pepper at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until carrots are brown and easy to stab with a fork.
Saute shallots and leek in a stockpot until translucent and fragrant (5 minutes)
Add garlic (1 minute)
Add carrots (2-3 minutes)
Strain vegetable stock into stockpot and simmer for 15 minutes.
Season to taste.
Puree soup in blender in batches, adding nut milk if desired.
Serve with a little creme fraiche + pistachios or some shaved parmesan
Notes
To freeze, leave out the nut milk, then add it when heating thawed soup.
