I am obsessed with smoothies, and I don’t care who knows it. Smoothies are so easy and so delicious and always feel like a treat when really they’re just a bunch of fruits and veggies in something that resembles a milkshake.

This smoothie is easy and smoothie and sweet. I made it with a frozen avocado that I froze and had forgotten I had frozen. Then, Jeff told me there was an avocado in the freezer, which I refuted, stating you cannot freeze avocados. Except obviously I had read this article and immediately frozen an extra half of avocado. Sorry, Jeff! I was wrong. Put it on my “I bet you $10” tip (I probably owe him hundreds of dollars. I think I’m right always. I’m not.)

ANYWAYS so these smoothie is a half of an avocado, an entire orange, three dates, a fistful of spinach, and some milk for balance. I also grated ginger in there until you could just taste it under the sweetness of the dates. Here’s a Pro Tip: keep a ginger root in your freezer and grate the frozen ginger directly into your blender. It keeps a long time in the freezer and it’s good to always have on hand.

Want your smoothie more earthy? Use kale instead of spinach, or add more of either. Like sweet ones? Add one or two more dates, and you’ll be good to go – those suckers are SWEET.

Ingredients:

half an avocado
one orange, peeled and quarter
three dates
one cup spinach
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp grated ginger

Directions: Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth. If too thick, add more milk until desired consistency is reached.

What is your fave smoothie combo?

Can you guys believe it is March!? This certainly means that spring is coming – I can feel it in my bones. We wanted to give you an update on what’s in season starting now, and what you can look forward to as we tick tock our way closer to melting snow and sunny skies.

We had a request to help you guys know just what is in season so you can get the best produce of the season. We recommend you hit up your local farmer’s market to see what they have in season that is local, but in lieu of that option, here’s a list of just some of the in-season produce, and some of our fave recipes for you to get in the bounty of the awakening. Click on the links below to see what we’ve made with each ingredient!

Asparagus
Avocados
Beets
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Chard
Citrus
Kale
Mushroom
Peas, Green
Spinach
Strawberries

Our fave recipes for a few of the items above are below – we love showcasing fresh produce in our recipes when in season for the freshest tasting dishes. If you’ve ever had one of these fruits or veggies, and you don’t particularly like them, try them again in-season – your experience might surprise you!

Asparagus is our jam. Everyone in our house likes it, and it’s delicious roasted with a little lemon. To kick it up a notch, try this Asparagus Tart that we love serving for an easy dinner or a perfect appetizer.

The minute the temperature gets above 60, you guys gotta make these Avocado Popsicles – they are so easy and so rich and delicious. It’s a treat that you can feel good about…although we still recommend the occasional Fudgesicle, for good measure.

This Citrus & Burrata Salad uses several of the in-season goodies, and it’s beautiful, too. It is the perfect way to get in creamy burrata without blowing your day’s calories on one meal, in our opinion. Plus that citrus will keep you good on Vitamin C (watching out for those late-season colds!) and there are beets hiding their earthy selves in there, too. Basically a celebration of Spring!

If you like kale, you’ll like this dish of kale, wild rice, sweet potatoes, and pine nuts. It’s such a great side dish, and it’s a great main dish if you’re a vegetarian. Plus, the slight wilting of the kale takes a little of the toughness out of it, so if you don’t want to chew forever, this is for you!

Finally, an ode to peas. This Chicken & Pea Casserole is the perfect weeknight meals. Peas are in here with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese because cheese is one of the great gifts of the earth.

What’s your favorite springtime veggie or fruit? Or are you waiting until summer rolls around to get back into your 5-a-day strut? Let us know what you struggle with and we’ll try to help you out with a recipe to get those veggies and fruits in!

March reminds of us all things green and good, like peas! Which, coincidentally, are in season right now. So go get some. And make something delish (for example, this amazing rice dish we shared in January). Eat it while you stare at your gorgeous new desktop background. You’re welcome!

Chickens, it’s cold in Chicago. And will be, for several months. Enjoy that sunshine if you’ve got it.

Over here, when things are cold and gray, we warm up with comfort food.

This time it was in the form of a Korean sandwich, called banh-mi, which must be Vietnamese for amazing.

Or something like that.

Anyway, we found the recipe on Shutterbean, but we adapted it slightly (because I can’t get my mind around pate and also because I forgot about the fried egg), but it was still delicious. Here’s the recipe, and here’s what we did. This is good for warming up, and is best eaten with a cocktail and a side of chips. Also, this says it will make 4-5 servings, but if you have less people, I guarantee it will still be gone, because it’s.that.good. You will not regret making this, we promise.

Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
For the marinade:

1/4 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
one 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled & minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1.5 pound pork tenderloin, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch wide pieces

For the pickled vegetables:

3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup julienned radishes

For the sandwich:

1 French baguette (we ended up using giant Italian bread- still delicious)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sriracha (to taste, we used more)
1/3 English cucumber, cut into 16 spears
10 cilantro sprigs
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Combine all marinade ingredient in a bowl. Add the pork, coat evenly and let marinate for 30 minutes or so.

2. For the veg: bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the veg, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

3. Roast the pork in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until it hits 165 degrees. Basically, cook the pork so you don’t kill anyone (you won’t kill anyone, I promise).

4. Preheat the broiler with the rack as close to the broiler as possible with the ability to wedge the sandwich underneath it. Halve your bread lengthwise. Place cut side up directly on the oven rack and broil until toasty, which won’t take long. Watch the broiler to avoid a burned bread sitch.

5. Combine the mayo and sriracha in a bowl, and then spread on the bread. Top with pork, cucumber spears, pickled veg, cilantro & jalapeños.  Close the sandwich, cut into portions & swoon.

Over in the GMS kitchen we are huge fans of versatile recipes.  That being said, this dish can be cooked and eaten in a variety of combinations.  Not only that, it also makes for great leftovers.

There are a couple new (or at least new to us) gluten free products that we are excited about.  The first being the Frontera Garlicky Carnitas Slow Cook Sauce that serves as the base and inspiration for this recipe.  Now, the sauce is originally intended for slow cooking pork; however, we used it for this chicken dish and stand by our choices.

The other new product we are extremely excited about is the new gluten free Mission Soft Taco tortillas.  They are the closest thing some of us have had to a flour tortilla in close to a decade, so the discovery was quite exhilarating.  The gf burrito option is now a legitimate reality.

Ingredients:
2 cups of rice
28 ounces of black beans
2 chicken breasts
2 packets of Frontera Garlicky Carnitas Slow Cook Sauce
2 bell peppers
½ white onion
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook rice and while rice is cooking prep vegetables and chicken, cutting both into bite size pieces.  Rinse black beans and slightly mash beans to change texture.
2. Cook chicken on medium/high heat then remove from pan.
3. Cook bell peppers and onion on low/medium heat until they soften and the onion browns.
4. Mix chicken and black beans in with the veggies, then add the sauce.  Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for several minutes.
5. When rice is done season to taste with chili powder and cumin, stirring to distribute spices evenly.
6. Mix together with rice and serve with cheddar cheese as garnish if desired.

It can be eaten on its own, with tortillas, with chips, with really whatever you desire.  Some variations on ingredients include jalapeno for some extra spice, corn for some extra crunch, or cilantro for some extra green.

What is your favorite versatile recipe?