Avocado Sorbet

A wedding gift from one of my very best friends was a beautiful cookbook that she created by asking all of the women in my life to contribute recipes to it.  It is filled with so very much love, photos, and yummy recipes.  Jack and I decided that we are now on a mission to make every single recipe in that book.  This is one of those recipes. 

Thank you Jennifer Dixon!

You will need a blender, and either a microplane or a tiny grater for zesting a lemon.

Ingredients:

1 ripe large avocado (I used 2 small ones)

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 cup almond milk or soy milk (original recipe called for 1/2 and 1/2 - but it's too fatty)

2 tsp lemon zest 

1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice (which is roughly two lemons)

Throw it all in a blender and mix until smooth consistency.  You can either pour into an ice cube tray, a plastic tupperware or even popsicle molds!  

Great served with fresh raspberries, strawberries or any fruit of your choice!

This also makes a great smoothie as you can use yogurt instead of milk and drink without freezing.

Love it!

Quinoa & Black Beans

Primarily Vegan - this is my new addiction.  It's great hot or cold.  It's great with a fried egg on top.  It's great with some chopped tomatoes and mixed greens.  It's just great... and hearty!

I got this recipe by doing a google search for quinoa side dishes and then added and subtracted ingredients until I made it my own.

Before beginning to cook this dish prepare the following:
chop the garlic and onion
roast red peppers and dice (really easy in a toaster oven- For instructions click here.)
rinse 2 cans of black beans
wash and chop kale

What you will need:
3 Cloves of garlic; minced
1 Onion chopped - I used a Vidalia onion
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Cup Quinoa
3 1/2 Cup vegetable or chicken broth (I used water since I didn't have this - and it is still great!)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper
a bunch of kale chopped and cleaned
1-2 red peppers roasted and diced (sauteed is fine too - but the peppers seem sweeter when roasted)
2 15 oz cans of black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup of chopped up cilantro

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until they are slightly browned.  While they are cooking, rinse the quinoa.  Add quinoa to the pan and stir together with garlic and onions.  Cover with vegetable broth and add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.  Bring this to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.  Top with kale and put a lid on in order for the kale to wilt down.  Add rinsed black beans and diced roasted red peppers.  Stir and allow to heat up for a few minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Toss with cilantro!

I made this for dinner as a side dish to our Roasted Red Pepper Soup that you can find below as the last recipe added to the blog.  We served both of these with shrimp we grilled on skewers with a Jamaican spice blend.  A great summer dinner!  In the morning I warmed some up and served it with a fried egg on top and a dash of Chalula.  So much you can do with this.  I hope you enjoy.