Gingery-Peachy Smoothie

"Bodies in the sand... Tropical drink melting in your hand..." The Beach Boys couldn't have said it better. I'm not at the beach today, but I've got waves on my mind. Today is the first real "fall" day here in the Pacific Northwest and although I'm glad to welcome the changing season, I'm also not quite ready to let go of summer. To that end, I decided to whip up a little fruity smoothie action as an excuse to take a break this afternoon.

Now, I'm a firm believer that smoothies, and for that matter all things tropical, should be based on approximation. For that reason, the "recipe" listed below contains references to quantities like "about," "at least" and "ish." If you've ever learned to cook a dish from a Southern gal, you're already familiar with what these terms suggest. However, for those of you uninitiated with the ways of "guess-urement," I've provided some notes to help you along.


Ginger-Peachy Smoothie
Yield: About 2 8oz servings

1 banana, fresh or frozen
Approximately 2 Tbsp lime juice
At least 1/3 cup non-dairy milk of your choice (I used vanilla almond milk) (up to 1/2 cups - see note below!)
About 1/2 lb frozen peaches (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 tsp-ish pureed ginger root (fresh or jarred)
Optional: agave nectar to taste (see note)

(And here's my favorite thing about smoothie recipes... Are you ready?)
Put all ingredients in blender. Pulse til you reach desired consistency!

Now, about that note I promised. I actually have a few to share.

On liquids: The question of consistency in smoothies is one of personal preference. I tend to like my smoothies a bit thicker than most folks (think milkshake!) so I'll always add a little less milk than others might. Consider also that the amount of liquid you'll need to add will be in direct ratio to the water content of the fruit you're using, the size of your banana, and so on. There's no right or wrong answer here, just do what feels right.

On sweeteners: I don't have a killer sweet tooth, so I rarely add sweetener to fruit concoctions like this. The vanilla almond milk I use is also unsweetened. However, if you're looking to add some sweetness or turn this into a dessert dish, you can add agave nectar if you like. Or... you can use a sweetened vanilla milk. Or... substitute part of the milk for a vanilla yogurt, which will also contain some sugar. Or... (and here's where the dessert part really comes into play) add some peach sorbet or vanilla soy/rice cream in addition to the other ingredients. In the end, my best advice is "sweeten to taste... and then taste some more!"

P.S. Dear beach fans: This (and any other) fruit smoothie becomes an especially wonderful treat with the addition of a bit of dark rum. Just sayin'.

Waffles with Peach-Nectarine Chutney

The first week of September is National Waffle Week. To celebrate, my dear omnivore and I decided to make waffles for dinner. I had also brought home some over-ripe peaches and nectarines that just begged to be cooked down into a nice waffle topping.

You can buy the waffle/pancake mix of your choice but commercially made vegan mixes are difficult to find, at best, and quite pricey. You can make your own waffles from scratch in just a few minutes and save yourself a small fortune. This is a basic "naked" waffle recipe, which I prefer, but a quick web search will yield tons of results for both savory and sweet waffles of a vegan persuasion.

Waffle Mix
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat your waffle iron before you get started. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour the soy milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Don't worry about lumps, if any.

Spray both sides of your iron with a non-stick spray (I use an olive oil mister) and pour the batter into the iron - the amount of batter will vary depending on the size and style of your waffle iron, so check the instructions. My iron makes 6-7 inch round waffles and takes approximately 2/3 cups batter for each waffle. This recipe yields 2 waffles of that size.


Peach-Nectarine Chutney
2 over-ripe peaches, pitted and diced
2 over-ripe nectarines, pitted and diced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sucanat (brown sugar can be substituted)
1 Tbsp dark rum (optional, but oh so lovely)

Toss your diced fruit with lemon juice to coat thoroughly. In a medium saucepan, combine fruit with sucanat and rum (if using) and cook on medium heat until the fruit gives up quite a bit of juice. Using a potato mashed, smoosh the fruit until the texture is to your liking. Stir and serve over freshly made waffles!