plum & persimmon green smoothie.

alternate title:

POST-HALLOWEEN-CANDY-BINGE DETOX ELIXIR

i see that the smoothie is actually colored gross brown, not green.  it pretty much looks like what the inside of my body feels like after this last halloween week + weekend.

but here's what brought me back to life:

fresh fruit and vegetables?! i hardly recognize you! where you been??

i feel like i'm overreacting about this, but i really ate like crap this last week and weekend and treated my body like garbage.

this is how i know i'm getting ooooolllldddderrrrrrr.  i can no longer eat a giant trash bag full of various candies to my hearts' content and feel absolutely great the next day.

those were the days.

i bought a whole bunch of fruits and vegetables at our produce stand down the street.  i then went wild and crazy taking tons of photos of fruits and vegetables on the kitchen table.  i'm sure the next few things that i share on here will be starring some colorful fruits or vegetables.  i really marched straight from the fruit stand to the kitchen and didn't leave until i made 3 different recipes with all my new loot.

so i needed a smoothie, real bad.

i wanted plenty of greens and lots of fruit for flavor and juiciness. 

i went with green apple, black plum, satsumas, persimmon, ginger, spinach, kale, and lemon.

since my blending device is horrific, the texture wasn't as fab as i'd hoped, but the flavor was there!

the ginger and the lemon are what really add a zing and bright flavor.  not to mention, an instant sense of rejuvenation and detoxification.

zing! zing!

that beautiful black plum is what is giving the smoothie its gnarly brown color, but the plum flavor is so interesting in a smoothie.  the persimmon has been sitting on my table and i just decided to throw it in!

i kinda think that persimmons taste like marshmallow, so i didn't think it could go wrong.  it added just a different texture and a sort of light almost spicy [?] flavor.  i don't know how to describe the taste of a persimmon...when i say spicy, i mean spicy as in spices, not spicy hot.  marshmallows aren't spicy.  what?

i dunno, you just have to go out and try one, y'all!!!

and then put it in a smoothie with some other colorful nutrients and make yourself feel allllllllll better.

Plum & Persimmon Green Smoothie

Makes about 16 ounces

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a green apple, sliced
• 1 black plum, sliced 
• 1/2 a persimmon, sliced
• 2 satsuma oranges, peeled and separated
• small nugget of ginger, as desired
• juice of 1/3 a large lemon
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• handful of kale (1/4-1/2 cup)
• 4 ice cubes

Instructions-

Peel and chop fruit and vegetables as directed and add to a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add ice last and blend again.

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flavor bomb greek salad.

i am most certainly posting this at this very moment because i desperately need to consume a pile of fresh vegetables.  

halloween week and weekend have been such great fun, but now i feel like big time doo doo and need to eat some colorful foods that don't come in colorful wrappers.

i don't have any of these items in my life at the moment because its the day after halloween and we certainly did not go grocery shopping today.  actually, we accidentally wandered in to the magical asian supermarket,

uwajimaya

, and bingo bango bongo, we spent $100 on seemingly nothing. woops.  so now we have lots o asian candies and beverages and snacks...but that is not helping me out of my halloween health slump in the slightest!

 now that its scary and dark out so early in the evening, there's no way i'm going out amongst commoners to fetch these nutritious ingredients tonight.  i just woke up from my sunday afternoon football game nap!  priorities.

also, winter hibernation mode begins...right now.

though, all the little veggies are looking up at me from these photos and taunting me like never before.  must. get. nourishment.

yeaaaaa so i basically put all the delicious things that you'd normally find in a standard greek salad, and then add some extra tasty things for extra extra FLAVA.

i'm looking at you, salami, pepperoncinis, green onion, and parmesan crisps.

tomatoes can be so cute with their curly little wispy top hats.

i like to add a bed of various greens for extra body and salad dressing surface area coverage.

when i studied abroad in greece for 3 months in college, the greek salads that we'd get just had big ol' chunks of cucumber, tomato, and bell pepper, maybe some red onion, and definitely a large rectangular brick of fresh feta cheese on top.  it was so amazing.

and they generally came with fries, too!

flavor ova here, flavor ova there.

for the dressing, i just drizzle olive oil and red wine vinegar over the salad and toss it well with salt and pepper.  you could get fancy and make a little jar full of this dressing and shake it super well.  then have extra for later and store it in the fridge!  

maybe i would eat more salads if i have tasty homemade salad dressings staring back at me when i open the fridge......

crunch crunch crunch.

i want you back, salad.  i want you back.

Flavor Bomb Greek Salad

Makes 1 big ol' salad (Serves 2)

• 3-5 large leaves of Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
• handful of fresh spinach
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 1/2 a cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 a red onion, sliced into half-rounds
• 1/2 cup pepperoncinis
• 1/2 cup black olives, sliced
• 1/2 a green bell pepper, sliced
• 3-5 green onion shoots, diced
• salami, chopped
• crumbled feta cheese
• fresh grated parmesan crisps*
• salt & pepper, to taste
• olive oil & red wine vinegar, to taste

Slice all vegetables as needed and place in a large salad bowl.  Toss with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add a light drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar and toss well.

*To make parmesan crisps, heat a pan on medium-low and grate little piles of fresh parmesan or Romano cheese in the pan.  Let bubble and get crispy (about 3-5 minutes).  Remove from heat and let cool. Gently remove from pan and use as a garnish for the Greek salad.

Enter: flavor explosion.

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