Pumpkin Smoothie
I really enjoy this pumpkin smoothie, made with soymilk:
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup “milk” of some sort, I use unsweetened soymilk
1 Tbs. blackstrap molasses (1/2 Tbs. if you want it less ironific)
3/4 tsp. pumpkin pie seasoning (1/2 tsp. if you want it less “spicy”)
sweetener (if “milk” isn’t already sweetened; I use 4 drops stevia)
On my allergy-free month I tried it with oat milk instead of my normal unsweetened soymilk. It didn’t come out very well. It was just too sweet and not rich/thick enough. I wonder if an unsweetened, homemade nut milk would work better than the sweetened oak milk I used, which was incredibly thin, almost just like sweet water. I remember having a thicker oat milk before, but don’t remember what brand it was. Anyone have a recommendation?
Update May 5, 2006: I tried making almond milk this morning for my smoothie. I soaked 1 ounce almonds overnight, then threw them and the soaking water in the blender for a while, then added my pumpkin, molasses, spices and more water for the smoothie. The texture came out surprisingly smooth, not very gritty at all. The pumpkin smoothie is better than when I tried it with oat milk, but it still doesn’t taste right though~the flavors are kind of muddy rather than bright and pumpkin-y. Maybe a soy-less, dairy-less pumpkin smoothie is just impossible?
I tried another version with 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk + 1/2 cup water. It had a nice texture but the flavor was still off.
Rating: B for regular verision, C for modified versions
Today I tried some extra pumpkin puree mixed with vanilla nonfat yogurt. Blech. Disgusting. I added some pumpkin pie spice and molasses. Still pretty nasty. Drinkable, but not pleasant.
Tofu-less Chili
I’ve had a craving for my mom’s chili recently, so decided to just try and make it allergy-free without the tofu or corn or peanut butter. Her recipe is somewhat inexact, but this is what I did:
2 cups pinto beans, dry (I used about a 1/3 black beans since I didn’t have enough pintos)
2 cups onions, chopped (about 1 large onion)
1.5 Tbs. olive oil
1 green bell pepper (I used 1/2 cup frozen)
1 jalepeno
1 Tbs. garlic
3 Tbs. chile powder
1 Tbs. cumin, ground
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup tomato puree
1 can whole tomatoes with juice
1.5 tsp. salt
water
It was a bit too salty, and maybe even too thin and tomato flavored. I was definitely missing the tofu. Clearly, if I leave the tofu and corn out and peanut butter out I have to replace them with something else for substance. Or at the very least increase the amount of beans. Maybe I should add some cooked grain? I saw a chili recipe recently where they added cooked kasha.
On my second bowl I added some red rice and it helped the texture. It’s still a bit powdery tasting though.
Rating: C
The captious vegetarian 