Garlic Scape Pesto

This time of year, the long green tops of garlic start to appear in gardens.  Gardeners and chefs alike know that this is one of those limited edition spring treats that they have to jump on.  And you can't beat the price!  I paid a buck for a bag of 40!  Cutting back the long green scape from the garlic plants helps grow stronger bulbs.  It also makes a delish pesto!  Normally pestos have cheese.  But hey!  Who says you can't change the rules?

40 garlic scapes
2 cups of slivered raw almonds OR chopped raw walnuts (nuts should be plain...no seasonings!)
3 cups of good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare the scapes by washing them in cold water.  Cut off the seed pod at the top.
Cut them into smaller pieces and put them in the food processor*.
Turn on food processor and slowly add nuts to the scapes.
When the almonds and scapes are well gound, start adding the olive oil in a steady stream.
Process thoroughly.

I used a small ice cream style scooper to scoop out balls and freeze them on a cookie sheet.  When they were solid, I put them in freezer bags.
This makes a great spread with Mary's Gone Crackers Products or as a dip with fresh veggies.  And of course you can always use it with pasta or risotto!

If you feel the overwhelming need to add cheese, no worries!  My Italian roots made it hard to leave it out.  (I made some for friends and I did put in the cheese for them.)  After you add the olive oil, slowly add 1 cup of grated parmesean reggiano or romano pecorino or a combination of both!  If you do choose to use cheese, I recommend a good quality Italian imported cheese made from pastured sheep or goat.

You can find this recipe along with many others on Allergy Free Alaska

*I did try to make this in my Vitamix and it didn't work so well.  It was too thick of a mixture to do it in there and the Vitamix overheated so I highly recommend a food processor for this!

PURPLE PLEASURE Smoothie **Green Monster**

You can just see the antioxidents swimming in this yummy smoothie! 

1 cup of water
1 heaping teaspoon of Spirulina
15 pitted cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup black raspberries or blackberries
1 banana

Put the water, spirulina, and banana in the blender and get it whirling.  If your fruit is frozen, add the rest of the fruit a little at a a time.  If it's all fresh, you can put everything in the blender at once and let 'er rip!

**The term Green Monster is a trademark of Oh She Glows

Dandy Dandelions

Growing up in an Italian family, I always had fresh dandelion green salad on the table in the spring. Both of my grandfathers would go out into local fields and pick boxes of them. We'd eat them every day until they were gone for the season. I loved the tangy bitterness accented with just some olive oil and red wine vinegar. Nothing else was ever added to that salad.

Many people turn their noses up at eating "weeds" but that's because they don't know a secret.  Dandelions are one the healthiest greens out there!  Check out 10 Reasons To Eat Dandelions to see for your self!

Dandelions go waaaaaaaaaay back in history.  Much farther back than the weeds people see in their yards.  In fact, some experts think that they date back to the 17th century!  How Dandelions Came To North America

Looking for some other reasons to develop a fondness for this plant?   Check out Some Little Known Facts about this interesting plant.

Try digging some up for yourself and making a simple salad.  If you're not sure about that, throw a plant or 2 in a smoothie.  You won't taste it but you'll still get all the beautiful health benefits this great green has to offer!

NECTARTINI Fresh Juice

I made this really without thinking.  I had to use up the last of my nectarines and I' don't really care for plain nectarine juice so I added a couple other things. 

6 nectarines, pitted
1 orange zested (leave the white pith)
1" chunk of ginger

For the best results with the nectarines, I reccommend putting half the orange in the feeder of your juicer and then puting in the nectarines and then the rest of the orange and then the ginger.  Push it down as slowly as possible.  The nectarines are soft so juicing them in the middle of the orange will help make sure you get the most juice out of them.

MP3 Fresh Juice

1 whole mango, peeled and pitted
2-3 peaches, pitted
1 pear
1" round of pineapple (you don't have to peel if you are juicing but if you decide to blend you will have to peel!)

Process all the fruit through your juicer or if you want, you can put in in the blender for a bit of a thicker drink. 

AFTERNOON DELITE Fresh Juice

As I was making this juice this morning and thinking about when this afternoon I would drink it, the song Afternoon Delight popped into my head so I said to myself, "Self, what a great idea for a name!"

2 kiwis peeled
1 orange zested
1 inch round of pineapple
1 mango peeled

Process all the fruit through the juicer.  If you want a thicker drink, this also makes a great smoothie!  I would not recommend adding milk.  If you need to thin it out, use a little water.  And yes!  That is a canning jar glass that you see.  I use canning jars to transport my juice. 

WALKING ON SUNSHINE Smoothie

I had some extra fruits that I had to use today so I threw them all into the Vitamix with a little flax milk and this is what I got. Wasn't too bad for a throw-together.


2 bananas
1 mango, peeled
1-inch thick slice of pineapple, peeled
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 orange, peeled
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flax, hemp, or almond milk
ice (optional)

Put all the fruit in the blender. Let it mix until all the fruit is incorporated. Add some milk just to thin it out. Once it's the consistency that you want, you some ice to the running blender to chill it a bit.

BEETRICE POTTER'S MONKEY Smoothie

1 cup of almond, flax, or hemp milk
2 bananas
1 packet of Sambazon frozen acai berries
All the tops (stems and leaves) from one raw beet
1 heaping teaspoon of maqui powder
1 heaping teaspoon of maca powder

Blend thoroughly.  You can add ice to make it colder if you like.  It has a light chocolate flavor.

BEETRICE POTTER'S RABBIT Fresh Juice

1 beet, including the greens

1 orange zested

2 large carrots

Process through the juicer.

FRED & GINGER Fresh Juice

2 large, whole carrots
1 large apple quartered
1 roma tomato or 12 cherry/grape tomatoes
1" knob of ginger (2" if you like it strong)

Put everything in the juicer.  Put the tomatoes in between the apple quartered.