Turmeric lassi

If you have eaten at an Indian restaurant you might have noticed a drink of yogurt and fruit. Lassi is commonly used to cool the mouth and throat after eating spicy food of the Indian subcontinent.

It is usually just a mix of yogurt and fruit with maybe a few spices for flavor. Mango lassi is very common. It has a tangy bite from the yogurt and sweetness from the fruit. It’s very filling.

Turmeric Lassi

2 cups yogurt
2 ripe bananas
2 tsp graded ginger
2 tsp honey
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp ground turmeric
4 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more yogurt as needed. Serve in large glasses with a sprinkle of turmeric on top!

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I used the yogurt which I had in the refrigerator, a strawberry Greek yogurt. It had a wonderful banana-strawberry flavor with the tang of the Greek yogurt.

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Adapted from the Green Kitchen app from IPhone.

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After tropical storm Andrea…

Tropical storm Andrea pass through the area Friday. She left more than 5 inches of rain and downed trees and flooded lowland areas. The power flickered but did not go out in my neighborhood.

As I arrived home from work about 6:30 pm I pulled slowly up the drive expecting to see many limbs in the yard. There was only one dead pine limb about 5 feet in length in yard. I was relieved.

As I arrived near the end of the drive, next to the house, I see the rose of sharon Altheas were not as lucky. They were all leaning over.

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They usually stretch toward the sky with long and thin limbs which heavy winds or rains often bend to the ground. They will often pull themselves back up over several weeks. If not, they will get a hard trim back to up right wood.

The patch of Black-eyed Susans were hit hard, too!

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Along the street, many plants were leaning but survived.

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And the yucca near the mailbox garden now has a leaning flower spike!

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The hydrangeas along the parking area made it through the wind and rain mostly unscathed.

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There are many plant with new blooms, too!

Passionflower

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And an unusual bicolor spiderwort.

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Once the sun come out and warms the ground, everything should begin a quick period of growth stimulated by the rain as we were in a very dry period before the storm.

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Tomato-Vodka Sauce

Fresh, homemade pasta sauce is the best! Its very easy to make and takes little time. Barilla now makes a line of pasta which contains 20% of the daily serving of vegetables. I usually use whole wheat pasta but these veggie pastas are just as good for you!

Tomato-vodka Sauce with veggie penne.

1 ½  tablespoons olive oil

½ cup chopped shallots or sweet onions

½ cup vodka

1 cup canned evaporate skim milk

One 150 ounce can tomato sauce

1/8 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat the oil in a heavy, large pan over medium heat. I used my trusty Dutch oven. Add the shallots or onion and cook, stirring, for four minutes.

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Add the vodka: carefully ignite the sauce with a long match – be careful! The flame will go out in about a minute when the alcohol has burned off. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to mix.

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Add the milk, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce is reduced and has thickened – about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cayenne and simmer until thickened again – about 5 minutes.

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Serve immediately over hot pasta, or store, covered, in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes 2 cups or four ½ cup servings.

Adapted from Vegetarian Times Low-Fat & Fast: 150 Easy Meatless Recipes.

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