Because 2 days is never enough.

Erik and I are addicted to smoothies. It started as a summertime weekend treat when we lived in San Francisco, and has developed into a multi-day affair in the form of breakfast Monday through Friday. We’ve put just about everything in season into a smoothie at some point, although some concoctions are more successful than others, and some can never be recreated since we don’t remember what was in them (sadly). Some items are better paired with yogurt, some with soy milk, others with chocolate soy milk. Some items go well with a little green tea matcha, some with a scoop of sorbet. The process lends itself to endless experimentation, which is part of the fun.

The smoothies this week have been so good that we’ve actually managed to make the same smoothie four days in a row (very rare in our smoothie making experience since we usually run low on at least one ingredient after the first day). The amounts below are estimates since we just eyeball everything or throw in the amounts that happen to be on hand.

Add to blender:

• 1/4 cantelope, cut in chunks
• 1 peach, sliced
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (preferably homemade)
• Scoop of mango sorbet (or other complimentary fruit, preferably homemade)
• 1/4 cup Ceres Medley of Fruits juice (natural guava, pineapple, papaya, etc.)

Makes enough for 2 pint sized glasses.

Here’s another yummy mix for late season peaches when the bounty of apples start to appear at the farmer’s market:

• 1-2 peaches
• 1 large honey crisp apple
• 1 heaping cup of plain yogurt (preferably homemade)
• 1/3 cup apricot juice
• honey to taste

Enjoy!

I got the most beautiful, large peppers at the farmer’s market and couldn’t bring myself to chop them up. Instead, I decided to make stuffed peppers, which I haven’t done in a long time. I was inspired by the quinoa stuffed pepper I had at an organic restaurant in Brooklyn Heights (they put tomato sauce on their version). The quinoa is a nice alternative to rice and can handle just about any vegetable you have lying around. I only prepared two peppers with the recipe below and had the leftover quinoa filling on it’s own the next day for lunch. This recipe is also easy to prepare ahead - assemble the quinoa and peppers, refrigerate overnight, and allow for an extra 10 minutes when baking in the oven.

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

• 6 medium bell peppers (red, yellow, green or a mix)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (or chopped cashews)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 bunch of greens (sliced spinach leaves, chard, or broccoli rabe)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 ounces cheese (feta or parmesan)

1. Preheat oven 425° and bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Cut the tops off the bell peppers to create an opening large enough to remove seeds. (Optional: Cut an additional half inch or so off the top; chop these pieces and set aside.)

3. When water boils, submerge bell peppers and simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain in a large colander and set aside.

4. Prepare quinoa and 2 cups of water in a separate saucepan.

5. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sautee for 5 minutes. Add chopped bell pepper (otpional) and sautee for another 5 minutes. Add pine nuts and cumin and sautee for another minute, then add zucchini, carrots, spinach, oregano, and salt. Sautee for 3 minutes, then add cooked quinoa and half the cheese until mixture is heated through.

6. Place cooked bell peppers in a rectangular baking dish coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Fill each pepper with quinoa mixture. Top with remaining cheese. Replace the top of the bell peppers and bake upright for 20 minutes.

Serves 6

After tackling a few custard-based ice cream recipes, I decided to take a break from the complexities of adding eggs to my frozen treats. It turns out I’m not the only one. The New York Times “Minimalist” posted an article on eggless custards this month. I finally tried it out this weekend and it was a smashing success. I may never go back to eggs again since this is easier to prepare and less fattening (without the heavy cream and eggs).

My version consisted of 1 1/4 cups 1% milk, 1 1/4 cups half and half, and a vanilla bean (no vanilla extract). I also tossed in freshly sliced peaches from the farmer’s market during the ice cream maker’s last five minutes of churn.

Cornstarch Ice Cream
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: August 1, 2007

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

• 2 1/2 cups light cream, half-and-half or milk (whole or skim), or a combination
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Put 2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk, the sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. If using a vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and scrape seeds into liquid, then add pod. Cook until mixture begins to steam.

2. In a bowl, blend cornstarch and remaining cream, half-and-half or milk; there should be no lumps. Remove bean pod from pot and discard. Add cornstarch mixture to pot. Cook, stirring, until it starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. Immediately reduce heat to very low and stir for 5 minutes or so until thick. Stir in vanilla extract, if using.

3. If mixture has lumps, strain it into a bowl. Chill until cool, a couple of hours (you can skip this step if you have a machine with a built-in freezer). When cool or if there are no lumps, pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Yield: 1 generous pint.

Something exciting happened to me.

I was wrangled into joining the “core group” of my CSA (this is not, clearly, the exciting part). Anyway, at the meeting last week, we had to go around and introduce ourselves by saying our names and a recent recipe we’ve made using our CSA vegetables (I did a good job of keeping my inner cynic in check, not mentioning the difficulty of using two rinky radishes for an actual recipe). The woman after me told us her name and said she had made a fantastic recipe for red curry pak choi that she found in the newsletter a few weeks ago and that it was terrific.

That was MY recipe! I actually squealed and fluttered my hands some. Which meant I quickly went from feeling very cool to feeling very dorky. But, still, I had my moment of glory.

The MTA meltdown had me trapped in Brooklyn for the day. A day off mid-week sounds like a great proposition, but since it was hovering around 14,000 degrees, I was actually looking forward to sucking up the office AC for the day. Mindy found me among all the commuters adrift in downtown Brooklyn and we sat down for an impromptu breakfast while we waited for the trains to get back to work. Only they didn’t, so I went home and sat in front of the fan in my underwear in a pool of my own sweat for a few hours and felt guilty about not being more productive.

That’s when my industriousness kicked in and I got to work on a new shirt. It was definitely much easier the second time around and I finished the shirt in about six hours (not counting an hour yoga class, a 45 minute conversation with Jody, whipping up some yogurt sauce, and drinking some wine with Karl… so I guess it took me a lot less time that that).

Now it’s midnight. Meet Shirt II.

I might even wear it to work tomorrow, presuming I can actually get there.

You can’t always explain when inspiration will strike you. I had ambitious plans for Saturday, evidenced by my lengthy and meticulously revised to do list, which bore explicit instructions to spend a good chunk of time to the pottery studio. But as I spun my way through spinning, stifling snickers at my teacher who got so carried away she was literally slapping her own ass, I had an unrelenting urge to bake. Maybe it was just a desire to eat back those calories I was sweating off…

Regardless, I biked back to the farmer’s market and nearly swooned with all the bright, cheerful fruit and veggies that greeted me. Among my treasures, I lugged home two pounds of plums, some nectarines, cherries, and a few big zucchini. And although it was 1000 degrees on Saturday, I cranked up the oven and whipped up a bunch of treats to deliver to the parties I had that evening (and some to keep for our own as well). The rustic plum tart, the plum/nectarine/cherry tart, and zucchini bread were wonderful The crust making was a bit nerve-wracking, because I was worried the butter would get too warm. But I think it all came out in the end.

In between the baking, I re-potted my herb box with some new herbs, sewed a birthday gift for Andrew, and cleaned the house. I don’t think I sat down once all day. Good thing I worked so hard on Saturday though, because the late night out had my sleeping off much of Sunday.

Rustic Plum Tart

I started with a recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, which I made less sweet and more spicy. I made the crust using this recipe from Martha. The filling is just about a pound and a half of red and yellow plums, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tablespoons corn starch, some fresh nutmeg and Chinese 5 spice to taste. Baked on 350 for 35 minutes.
Zucchini Bread
I used this recipe from 101 cookbooks. I made it before without the poppy seeds, ginger or lemon zest and it was so good it was gone in a flash.This time I followed the recipe, but for the crystallized ginger. My recommendation? Lose the lemon zest and follow everything else.