Power in a glass

This is power in a glass.

I am not a big smoothie person but I know that they are a great source of liquid nutrition that breaks down in the system efficiently.

I am not a banana lover other than banana breads so I am not fond of a lot of the smoothies you get at retail stores.

My favourite smoothie that doesn't taste like a smoothie to me is from Jugo Juice. I get a Powerzone drink that tastes like a strawberry tropical desert but it has protein powders in it that will give me a boost about an hour after I drink it. It's the one thing I have found that tastes great and that I can actually feel it working.

I don't like a lot of the chalky tasting protein powder shakes and smoothies so I have been trying different things at trade shows and from markets around town.

After reading a bit in Julie Daniluk's book Healing Inflammation she recommends using Hemp protein instead of whey or soy protein. So I picked up some chocolate flavoured Hemp protein. It doesn't have that strong smell like some of the other ones have.

I tried to mix it with a bunch of super boosters into a power smoothie. I have all these super charged ingredients but I am trying to figure out how to make them all palatable. If it doesn't taste good I won't eat or drink it.

This experiment consisted of the following ingredients.

Frozen Strawberries
Fresh blueberries
1 tbsp chocolate Hemp protein
1 tsp maca powder
1/4 tsp bee pollen
1/4 tsp chia seeds
1 tbsp raw honey
1/4 cup coconut milk


I blended it all together in the blender and the picture above is what it looks like.

It's a bit gel like in it's consistency and I don't know if that's the chia seeds or what did that. It doesn't taste too bad but I think I need to experiment with the consistency.

Will see how this works in my body today and if it gives me the energy I need to get through my day.

I have had low energy and I am trying to find healthy and tasty ways to get more nutrition into my body.

I would recommend the chocolate hemp protein and I think once I get the right formulation of other things to use in it I think I might be able to get used to it.

I have a serious carb addiction and still want some bread for breakfast but I am hoping to try and switch to other healthier options in the future.

I added the blueberries because it's an antioxidant super brain food and the strawberries are also great antioxidants that are great for skin.

So this concoction is an antioxidant, protein, brain and energy super drink that is supposed to provide enough fibre and binding agents to eliminate all the toxins out of your body.

Will see...

Looks like Spring Asparagus Tart

My friend and financial advisor helps me do my taxes every year and to thank her I try and cook her a nice meal when she comes over to work on my tax return. This year I made something different and something I have never made before but I decided to make it because I wanted to make something vegetable based and I felt like making a savoury tart.

I made a leek, asparagus and goat cheese tart. It looked, and tasted like spring. It was kind of like a cross between a quiche and a tart.

How I did it.

1 large or 2 small leeks
1 bunch of asparagus with hard stalks cut off
4 eggs
1 layer of frozen puff pastry dough defrosted
1 small shallot chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons of soft goat cheese
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter


I first (blind baked) meaning I baked the tart crust in the oven using beans to keep it flattened instead of puffing up. I cooked it until lightly browned.

Cut the leeks into half moon slices and clean well. Saute the leeks with the diced shallots slowly in a medium to low heat pan in the olive oil and butter mix and seasoning with salt and pepper. You can add parsley or other seasonings to this mix if you like. Cook until translucent and softened.

Blanch the asparagus in boiling water until bright green and then shock them in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Let the leeks, asparagus and the puff pastry cool before assembling.

Make sure you have a border crust on your puff pastry so that the egg mixture doesn't leak out.

Mix the leeks and shallot mixture into the 4 beaten eggs and pour onto the puff pastry crust. Arrange the asparagus tips around the tart and put small spoonfuls of the goat cheese on top of the asparagus around the tart. Grate parmesan cheese over the whole tart.

Bake in a 400degree oven for about 20-25 min or until the eggs are cooked and it is slightly browned.

I used a removable bottom flan pan but it would be nicer in a rectangular pan.

My friend loved it so much that she took a piece home for her boyfriend. So I guess I will make this recipe again. It would be a nice brunch recipe but i could see it being great for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It was fairly easy to prepare using already rolled out puff pastry and it looks impressive if you assemble it well. I think food stylists would like this one.

Tuna Tartare's perfect pair AvocadoT

This is one of my guilty pleasures. Tuna tartare with Avocado. They are a perfect pair together. One of my favourite places to get tuna tartare with Avocado is at Nota Bene on Queen St. West. A little appetizer plate of it costs $18 there and I could eat 2 of them easily.

Yesterday I was down at Harbourfront and decided to stop by the St. Lawrence Market and pick up some fish for dinner and I picked up some sushi grade Tuna and Salmon. On the drive home all I could think of was how much I wanted to make tuna tartare with Avocado and luckily I had the other ingredients to go into it.

As soon as I got home I quickly put things away so I could get to the good stuff.

What's in my version?

1 Avocado chopped in small pieces
1 squeezed lime
pinch of salt
1 tbsp. small red onion diced or shallots or green onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro


Tuna tartare:

About 2 to 3 inch thick piece of sushi grade Tuna. must be sushi grade to eat it raw.
! tsp or to taste of sesame oil.
I used a combo of black and white sesame seeds with salt seasoning.

What I did to assemble it.

I used a ring and first put some of the avocado mix in the bottom of the ring followed by some of the tuna mix and then more avocado and another layer of tuna and then some of the cilantro.

You can also make it spicier by adding a quarter of a jalapeno pepper finely diced or even adding some wasabi, tabasco or saracha paste. I used the paste on the plate.

I attempted to make it pretty like they do in the restaurants just for this blog post but I used the second half of the piece of tuna and I just mixed it all in a bowl.

I ate them with some great President's Choice Habanero Lime tortilla chips. At Nota bene they make it a little different and I think they use other flavourings and they serve it with a couple of taro chips.

I like them both... Sushi grade Tuna is my guilty pleasure because I know that tuna isn't the best environmental choice but it tastes like butter when mixed with Avocado. It's just light yummy goodness. It doesn't taste fishy, it just tastes very satisfying.

Try it at home or try it in a restaurant but just try it if you like Tuna.