On my way home from the desert on Sunday, I stopped at one of my favorite farm stands, the Classic Organic. If you are ever driving on the 101 near Buellton, CA (north of Santa Barbara), then I highly suggest stopping here for some fresh produce:
Not only is everything organic, but the farmer also uses biodynamic methods as well. Since it is winter, the selection was slightly less than usual, but I still found an abundance of greens as well as onions, carrots, radishes, squashes, etc.
I grabbed a bunch of dandelion greens to use in a green smoothie. Although most people think of dandelions as a weed, they have herbal properties and are in general extremely healthy (like most greens!). Although you can eat them raw, I steamed mine lightly for use in the smoothie.
Then, I made my Anti-Cancer Green Smoothie with hemp milk, banana, dates, prunes, flax meal, blackberries and mango with the dandelions for the greens (I left out the broccoli this time to decrease the veggie flavor). I’ve been adding a chunk of tofu lately for extra nutrition:
The smoothie was a lovely shade of red and tasted refreshing and sweet:
On a separate note, look what arrived in the mail yesterday! My new “vegan” necklace!
Isn’t it beautiful? You can’t see it in the picture, but there is a pretty blue stone on the necklace as well. I got it with my tax-deductible donation to Our Hen House. The podcasts are such an important part of our community and are reader-supported. If you listen to them regularly, you might want to consider making a donation as well, click here for more information.
Have a wonderful, veggie-filled day!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the necklace !! And dandelion greens
Places like that on the side of the road make me sooooo happy!
Thanks Lisa! Do you have farm stands where you live (not in the winter, but in the spring/fall)? What kinds of local foods can you get?
Hey Carrie!
The farm stand looks wonderful! But why do you steam the dandelion greens before putting them in a smoothie? I had thought about putting tofu in our smoothies instead of soy milk but wasn’t sure about it…now I will certainly give it a try!
Hi Karen, you can definitely substitute tofu for soy milk, although you won’t get the same creaminess using tofu and it changes the flavor a bit. But, I like that tofu is less processed than soy milk. Have you tried making hemp milk for smoothies? It’s so easy, just blend 1/4 cup hemp seeds with 4 cups of water. That’s what I use as the liquid in my smoothies.
Hi Karen, I forgot to answer your question about dandelion greens. You can eat them raw or steamed, but I find them slightly easier to digest when they are slightly steamed.