Pineapple Mango Smoothie: An Experiment with Rice Milk

Too hot to cook.  Too hot to write.  Too hot to even think about the back-logged posts that I have with some delicious recipes waiting to share.  And yet, here I am with a new post! A suitably frozen one, at that. 

Over the past few weeks, A and I have been independently reading and discussing the various problems that people have with dairy.  Don't worry - I'm not giving it up (although I am as convinced as ever that organic is really the only way to go for milk if you're partaking).  I did, however, pick up some rice milk at Trader Joe's to give it another try.

I had tried rice milk on its own quite a few years ago and found it tasted like watery rice.  Which it is, so I guess I got what I deserved. I'm not sure how vegans take their rice milk, but I think that once one is committed, you might not be craving a glass of milk with your PB&J in quite the same way that I do now.  After this attempt, as an ingredient with other tasty ingredients, I'm sold on rice milk. 

The other thing that made the rice milk enjoyable is that I bought myself a little treat.  I love toys.  That's why I have too much stuff in the kitchen, but this one additional purchase may have made my whole summer.  I got myself the Fit & Fresh Smooth Blend Mixer.  We have a blender, but it's full size and makes great smoothies for four.  This is much like the ones you've seen on TV where it is a single cup that attaches to a machine and then you can take it on the go with you.  Love the toys.  

So, to give my new toy a test drive, I threw together some vanilla rice milk, fresh squeezed orange juice (I wanted lime, but alas had none and it was too hot to leave the house), frozen pineapple (I bought one fresh a few weeks ago and cut it up and threw it in the freezer), and frozen mango (Trader Joe's).  A quick buzz and voila! A tropical orange julius-like smoothie that definitely helped take the edge off the heat.  Except to see more smoothie recipes in short order.  Yum! 

(Please forgive me the photo quality - some poor battery charging planning and I was left with only my phone's camera.)

Pineapple Mango Smoothie

• 1/4 c. fresh squeezed citrus juice (orange, lime, lemon, maybe even grapefruit!)
• 1 c. vanilla rice milk
• 1 c. frozen pineapple chunks
• 1/2 c. frozen mango chunks
• fresh mint leaves (optional)

1. Add ingredients into your mixer according to the directions (mine called for liquids first, then heavier ingredients, so I added in the order listed above).
2. Blend it.  
3. Garnish with additional mint if you'd like. 
4. Enjoy!
5. This makes 16 ounces of smoothie. 

Paper Chef 50: Poached Egg on Dill, Ricotta and Onion Tartlet

I've been following the Paper Chef challenge for awhile now from afar.  Each month I thought I would give it a shot and wimped out in the end for a variety of reasons.  Not this time.

For those who aren't familiar with the challenge, this is a mini-Iron Chef with a lot more notice and more secret ingredients.  The event takes place the first full weekend of each month.  The winner of the previous month selects three ingredients at random (from a list compiled earlier that week) and then gets to add a fourth item - either a theme or an ingredient.

This month, the ingredients were dill, ricotta and honey. Our host at Prospect: The Pantry added a fourth to reflect spring and new beginnings - eggs.  I could not have been more excited.  And again, I thought about wimping out, but honestly, these are four of my favorite things ever.

I struggled with how to combine them since all of my ideas included three (usually dill in one set of three and honey in the other).  I went, with hope, to Eggs by Michel Roux which frankly should have been my first stop.  There were tons of almost-right recipes that got me dreaming.  It was his "poached egg on onion tartlet" that won the prize. 

My tweaks included using ricotta instead of cream and dill instead of thyme, as you might imagine.  There was no honey in the original recipe either, so that got added in as well.  I also had tons of lovely local onions from Philips Farms just screaming to be caramelized and spread on puff pastry. Et voila! Poached Egg on Dill, Ricotta and Onion Tartlet. 

Poached Egg on Dill, Ricotta and Onion Tartlet (inspired by Michel Roux)

• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• freshly ground black pepper
• sprinkle ground cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp milk (I used skim, but any will do)
• 1 tsp honey
• puff pastry
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 large organic egg
• 1 sprig fresh dill, roughly chopped

1. Melt butter and oil in pan over low heat.  Add sliced onions and cook until caramelized, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Set aside.
2. Cut 4-inch rounds from puff pastry (I made three since I pulled out extra, but one will suffice).
3. Drizzle olive oil on small baking sheet.  Place puff pastry round(s) on sheet and chill for about 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven (I used my convection toaster oven since I just made one) to 325F. 
5. Mix ricotta, milk and honey in small bowl and chill.
6. When pastry round(s) are ready, prick each 4-5 times with a fork.  Top with ricotta, then onions.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry are golden and crispy.
8. Just before pastry is done, heat 4 inches of water in a wide pan along with 3 tbsp vinegar.  Bring to a boil.  Crack egg into separate bowl and pour into water.  Poach for about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.
9. Top pastry with egg.  Garnish with fresh dill.  Serve immediately.