Monday, September 2, 2013

Piña Colada Rice Pudding


Refrigerate and serve this cold, as dessert, with fresh diced pineapple on top.
Or eat it fresh and hot like oatmeal for breakfast.

Piña Colada Rice Pudding

1 cup long grain Rice
3 cups Soymylk
2 cups Coconut Mylk
1/8 tsp. Salt
2 Cinnamon Sticks
1/3 cup Agave Nectar
1 TBSP Vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened Coconut shreds
1/2 cup diced Pinapple

In a sauce pan, combine rice, 3 cups of soymylk, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, and salt and bring to boil.  Once a boil is achieved, lower heat to a simmer, and cover pan with a lid.  Stir every 5 minutes until most of the mylk is absorbed, and rice is tender.  Remove rice from pan, turn the heat back up to medium, and use the same sauce pan to toast coconut shreds.  Once the coconut is golden, pour in coconut mylk and agave.  Let this mixture come to a boil while stirring occasionally.  Pour your cooked rice into this pan of hot coconut mylk mixture and stir continuously, allowing the mixture to thicken.  Cook rice pudding like this for 3 minutes, then remove from heat and pour pudding into a heat safe bowl.  Refrigerate and let pudding cool, then serve with a generous amount of fresh, diced pineapple on top.


Homemade Horchata

A traditional, cinnamony, rice based drink from Mexico...be sure to use organic long grain or jasmine rice.  Parboiled brown rice won't work. I promise.  


Homemade Horchata

2 cups long grain Rice
1/3 cup Agave Nectar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 tsp. ground Cinnamon
4 cups Water


Soak rice, vanilla, and cinnamon sticks in two cups hot water for 4 hours, or overnight.
Remove cinnamon sticks, and pour soaked rice contents into a blender, with your additional 2 cups water.  
Add agave nectar and ground cinnamon, and blend on high until a smooth texture is achieved.  This may take up to 2 minutes.  
Use a fine mesh strainer placed over a pitcher and pour contents of the blender slowly thru the strainer.   It should collect all the fine pieces of rice and let the horchata pour thru. Throw away rice granules collected by the strainer.  Repeat this process 2 more times to remove as much of the rice granules as you can.  
Horchata should be just a little gritty and frothy.  Serve over ice.  Will last up to 3 days if refrigerated.

Spicy Avocado Kale Salad

Serve this as a side with your enchiladas, in a taco salad or burrito, or wrapped in a collard green with raw veggies to make a raw taco!!  Put extra serrano to make it super spicy, and add cilantro if you're a jerk and you like that stuff.

Spicy Avocado Kale Salad

1 large bunch Kale
2 large, ripe Avocados
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1 tsp. granulated Garlic
1/4 tsp. Onion powder
1/4 cup Unsweetened Soymylk
1/2 TBSP. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Black Pepper
1/2  Serrano pepper (1 whole Serrano if you're loco)
1/4 cup diced Purple Onion

Rinse kale, and use hands to tear into small, bite size pieces.  Place kale in a bowl and set aside. Place all other ingredients in a food processor, and blend on high. Once smooth, pour a generous amount of avocado dressing over kale and toss until thoroughly coated.  Add diced purple onion and serve right away.  For extra zazz, add pepitas or sunflower seeds.