My husband, a loving and inspirational man who believes in my kitchen artistry more than I do, once suggested I write a blog all about using whatever’s in the cabinets to make fantastic meals.
I. Am. Not. That. Girl.
It’s not that I don’t occasionally throw something together without a plan beforehand. And yes, it often comes out great. But what I do more often is dream up something that calls for specific ingredients that combine in a way that makes my mouth water. I think it up. I go shopping. I come home and prep it in some precise way (has anyone ever seen the way I arrange veggies on a salad? It’s a problem). And THEN I throw it together, hoping it comes out great. Sometimes it does.
But today, my friends, I created a recipe out of sheer desperation. I’d been up since 5 am, taught, practiced, worked on my laptop at a coffee shop for hours, attended a meeting, then traveled back to Brooklyn all on a coffee, a fruit cup with coconut creme and a green juice. Not good planning.
So when I reached into the freezer for my bag of frozen cherries to make this smoothie, and found instead strawberries, I thought “oh crap, what do I do now?”
I am not a frozen strawberry fan. In truth, I have no idea what possessed me to buy them. I love fresh strawberries from our local farmer’s market, but rarely eat them frozen because somehow it always makes my smoothie taste “fake” to me, even if I know they’re real!
Too bad. Those little berries were gettin’ blended.
Into the blender:
Heaping ½ cup frozen strawberries
1 cup almond milk
½ frozen banana
4 ice cubes
2 Tblsp. Almond butter
Squeeze liquid stevia
Splash vanilla extract
Heaping tsp. ground cardamom
Yes, you can get all those ingredients at your local store.
Throw ‘em in. Blend em. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Slurp away.
Isn’t it pretty? I wanted to put kale in there, but somehow couldn’t bring myself to ruin the pinky blush of this new beauty. So sue me. I had one meal without greens this week.
You can switch the nut butter for something else, but the combo of almond and cardamom is weirdly amazing. Also, strawberries and cardamom are always a fave. Remind me to tell you about my chia cardamom pudding with strawberries one day.
But now forgive me, I gotta run. I want to make sure I’m stocked up on favorite special ingredients so none of these emergencies have to happen soon.
Then again, this was so wonderful, maybe I’ll just use up whatever else is hanging around. Kale and blueberries anyone?
