NOURISH HEALTH + TASTE + STYLE

Spring Cleaning

Full disclosure, I am not one generally for anything green that comes in liquid form (see my post a few weeks back and the delish tonics from Body & Eden).  But, I am slowly reforming old habits and tastebuds.  I likely won't be going full force on wheatgrass shots, but in an effort to refresh things in the spirit of spring cleaning, I whipped up a new smoothie mixing in kale, avocado, mango, shaved coconut and banana.  Sounds like a completely random mess, but I'm totally smitten.  Too often smoothies are loaded with excess sugar and spike your blood sugar - not exactly what you're looking to do when trying to kickstart your day at breakfast.  This one's got a great balance of healthy fats from the avocado, protein from hemp seeds (a new obsession), and sweetness from almond milk and a drop of honey or agave nectar.  And if that's not enough, drizzle in some vanilla extract which will put you over the top, energized and satisfied all morning long.  Spring's an ideal time of year to take stock of your daily food routine, or rut, and polish it up nice and pretty.  So...go grab a blender and start your own smoothie.

*And here's a little shout out to my two clients who devised their own detoxifying drink, "the green monster!"

Travelogue :: Scones & Cocktails Via SF

Before I delve into a post about my recent weekend in San Francisco, I wanted to say a gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who supported Nourish's Kickstarter campaign.  We exceeded our goal last week and continue to move ahead towards Nourish Kitchen + Table's official brick and mortar launch (stay tuned....)!   

I was able to decompress a bit with a mini-work/pleasure trip to SF just as the final Kickstarter pledges rolled in.  A few days scouting the city with 18 Rabbits founder Alison Bailey Vercruysse + ridiculously gorgeous weather + some excellent eating had me wanting to linger on the west coast a while longer.  And if you're unfamiliar with 18 Rabbits, you should definitely familiarize yourself.  It's hands down the best-tasting granola with the most-consciously sourced ingredients on the market.  Thankfully, corner delis, Whole Foods, Dean & Deluca and other shops have started stocking it in NYC, so keep your eyes peeled.

A few quick highlights of the trip: 

*The famed farmer's market at the Ferry Building. Local strawberries, kumquats and pixie clementines that taste like candy, Scream Sorbet with their addictive line of dairy-free sorbets (pistachio and tangelo....wow!), green garlic that'll have you breathing fire but you won't care it's so tasty, and countless artisan food vendors and local farmers.

*Nopa. The food and cocktails were so good that we did dinner and brunch there. 

*Tartine Bakery.  Lovely and delicious bread.  And a pretty darn good lemon tart too.

*Saturday afternoon cocktail hour with the expert bartending skills of Alison's husband.  The SF Cooler is pictured below.  Rum + cointreau + club soda + lime juice.  Tart and sweet, simple and refreshing.   

*Grass-fed lamb chops from the Fatted Calf butcher shop, fava bean-mint crostini (recipe below) and radicchio salad with kumquats and fresh goat cheese.  A home-cooked dinner doesn't get much better.  

*The smell of Alison's perfectly light blueberry-lemon scones baking on a Sunday morning.  Sorry, no recipe, it's under lock and key.

Frittata with Swiss Chard, Heirloom Tomatoes and Feta

Insanely hot temps outside + too many vegetables spilling out of my fridge = hiding out in the A/C and cooking like a bandit (sans oven) - which apparently can be fortitutous for certain folks in my circle.  Just this morning I received an email from my gorgeous ginger-haired friend inquiring if I had any good recipes for Swiss chard.  Just her luck, I made this frittata over the weekend with chard from the farm share we both belong to.  What do I love most about a simple frittata? They'll take to pretty much any ol vegetable you've got lying around and you can make one and get a work week's worth of breakfasts in one fell swoop.  And for my ginger-haired friend, I might even toss a piece or two of bacon into this recipe for a slight shout out to her southern roots.

So without further adieu...