A 'Green' Purple Cleanse

It's funny how one thing leads to another. . .
A Facebook friend is having a colonoscopy this morning. This got me thinking how great I've felt after each of mine. Great! Due to the cleansing action of that nasty 'prep' process. 

Then one of my favorite Facebook pages, Food Matters, posted a healthy green cleanse to do at the first signs of a virus. These two things, coupled with the fact that on our semi-annual trip to the cities this past Saturday, my daughter steered me down the Asian candy aisle telling me all about her favorites. I protested, "I don't need to get started on THIS stuff. . ." Too late, I already saw some interesting-pretty-shiny packaging that sucked me in. . .

So, obviously, with my personality -leaning toward addictive- I have WAY over-indulged since then. And, since I believe it's never too late for a do-over. . .that can lead to better choices -VOILA- here we are!

Unlike others, I don't make these things in a juicer. I had one once and hated the idea of all that great, fibrous pulp going to waste. You can compost it, or like me, use it in muffins, but one can only eat so many muffins, ya know!?! So, if you have a juicer, go for it. If not, use your blender!

I loosely followed the ingredients for the juice the mom and her son made on the Food Matters video, omitting one or two and adding several of my own.

1-1/2c frozen blueberries
1 big clove raw garlic
1 big fresh cucumber
3 stalks celery
a couple Swiss chard leaves (no stems)
fresh ginger or some lightly 'candied' ginger
1 lime: zest + fruit with the white pithy part removed
12-16oz. cold, fresh water

Juice -or- blend everything well. This was really good! If you're going more for nutrition than cleansing, you could add a little organic local honey and a banana, but I loved it just the way it is. No added sweetness needed. 

This makes 24-30oz. Enough for 2 big servings.
If you plan to down all of this yourself though -disclaimer- I'd stay home alone for a while afterwards. No long car rides, church, business meetings. Just you, alone, close to the bathroom. Because, as someone recently, so delicately phrased it, "it's never just gas" 😉 It can be surprisingly effective. . .quickly. . .Lin

Green-Green Rice

1c bamboo rice

2c water

½ jalapeño pepper - diced

3 scallions - sliced thin

½-1 lime - zest and juice

½ bunch cilantro - stems and leaves - sliced

1t Penzey's Shallot Pepper

This was my first Bamboo Rice Cooking Adventure.  My sister, her husband, some friends and I went to the Oracle Patio Cafe' for brunch after church, during my visit to Arizona recently.  What an amazing surprise!

The food was excellent, and they also had many interesting, indigenous foods, for purchase in their little market shop.  Beans, rice, coffee, seasonings - so many great things!!  So, of course, I bought lots of 'foodie-stuff' to send back home to Minnesota! 😉

I was surprised by the scent of this bamboo rice!  While others describe it as 'grassy,' I find it more similar to that of menthol or eucalyptus.  The finished texture and consistency, of this recipe, is very much like risotto.  I SO love exploring new food experiences!

Combine UN-RINSED rice and water in a heavy 2 qt. pot.  Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the jalapeño. After another 5-10 minutes, add the remaining ingredients - and - pay attention!  Stay with it, stirring over low heat, or it'll stick to the pot.  This cooks fast, and was done in 20 minutes.

Garnish with avocado and a sprig of cilantro.  Mmmm!!  Today this, steamed carrots and Garlic-Lime-Cilantro Shrimp are a late lunch! — Be Creative! 😃 It's SO much fun!  Happy  Cooking!..Lin

A Quick P.S.-Edit.....The shrimp was the star of the plate, so here goes:  Thaw frozen shrimp, in a bowl of water.  Shell and remove tails.  For 8 med.-lg. shrimp: in a small non-stick pan, combine 2T browned (or regular) butter and 3 large, sliced cloves of garlic.  Add the juice and zest of ½ a lime, 1t of Penzey's Shallot Pepper Seasoning and a little dry white wine.  After this simmers a couple minutes, stir in the shrimp, coat with the sauce, simmer, covered, a  bit longer, then serve.  😋 

Lemon Lime Cleansing Drink

This is my variation of an old German recipe that claims it will "cure clogged arteries, fat in the blood, infection and colds."  While it may, or may not, do all that, I think of it more basic terms.  It's a great daily cleansing drink!  The original recipe only used lemon, garlic, ginger and water.  Kale, spinach, celery or cilantro are other good cleansing agents.  In doing a side-by-side comparison of lemons vs. limes I discovered that they're are just packed with nutrients!  Where the lemon scored low, the lime excelled and vise versa, back and forth right down the list!  Now when using them in a lemon or lime recipe, I'll use half of each.

2 lg. lemons

2 lg. limes

1-2" cube of peeled ginger

4 lg. cloves of peeled garlic

a whole bunch of cilantro

1/2 gallon of filtered water

honey-to taste after chilling

Scrub, cube and seed the fruit - interestingly, there wasn't a single seed in any of mine!  Chop the ginger, garlic and thoroughly wash the greens.  Place all in a blender, adding enough water to fill in the air space.  Blend on high a couple minutes before returning the mixture to a 3qt. pan containing the rest of the water.  Heat slowly, while stirring occasionally, to just below the boiling point.  Pour into a large covered container and chill several hours.  Mix, then strain, using a very fine strainer, into a small kettle, add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of raw, organic honey.  Heat and drink.  I would recommend drinking a cup of this first thing in the morning and also an hour before dinner. . .Happy Cleansing. . .Lin