The smell of cilantro reminds me of my mom. When I was a kid, in our backyard my family had a small vegetable garden. My parents would let my brother and I pick one vegetable each and we would pick something tangible and familiar like tomatoes or cucumbers. My mom, always picked lots of herbs and her favorite was cilantro. She always talked about how nice it smelled (and it does smell good) and how good it was. And I always thought, “you can’t even eat it!” But now, the smell of cilantro always makes me think of my mom and preparing our backyard garden.

Today, I know you can eat cilantro, but I always use it just as an herb to flavor a recipe. I use it with beans, arroz con gandules, and salsas. But, I had never thought about using cilantro in a non-savory way until I looked through Green Smoothies for Every Season by Kristine Miles. Her recipe for a smoothie with pineapple and cilantro is the inspiration for today’s recipe. I know cilantro isn’t for everyone, but if you do like this herb, I think you’ll enjoy this smoothie. The drink comes out so lovely and bright. Also do you know that cilantro has vitamins A, C, and K? Yeah, so it’s good for you.

And as I said when I wrote about Farmington, I ate a ton over the holidays and so I am trying to eat a little bit better in January. That means, eating healthier and eating more fruits and vegetables. One way I like doing that is with green smoothies. I know that green smoothies don’t solve it all, and I know that to be really great they should have 50% greens, but I think any way you can get to your 5-a-day you should do it.

I’ve used Kristine Miles’ combo of pineapple and cilantro as inspiration, but I’ve decided to make it my own by pumping up the green with some spinach and also sweetening it a bit with pineapple juice. Not only is it pretty healthy, but it has a tropical feel which is so nice during dreary winter days. Since it’s winter, I used canned pineapples in juice, but feel free to use fresh or frozen pineapple. There’s a banana in this recipe too and I highly recommend freezing it. Frozen bananas make smoothies so luscious and creamy. Overall, this is totally delicious, you’ll drink it down so fast – and then, if you’re like me, you’ll feel like you’re doing yourself some good in January.

Messy level: Nothing is easier or cleaner to make than a smoothie. The messiest part is clearing up all the cilantro stalks after you’ve picked off the leaves.

Pineapple Cilantro Smoothie

 

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Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• ½ cup spinach leaves
• ½ cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
• 1½-2 cup chopped pineapples
• 1 banana, peeled (frozen is preferable)

Instructions

1. If your blender is weak, add the juice, spinach, and cilantro leaves to the blender first. Blend this until the greens have been chopped fairly small.
2. Add the pineapple and banana to the blender and blend until smooth and the greens are cut into small flecks.
3. Pour into glasses and serve with a straw. Somehow smoothies taste better through a straw.

3.2.2925

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I bet you have some idea of the ridiculous picture I have in my head. Imagine: a restaurant, dressing up a little bit, a fascinator hat, pinky in the air, and a three-tier tray with tiny sandwiches and sweets. I know it’s not really going to be like that and my little fantasy is probably closer to a stereotype than anything else. Regardless, I still want to go to tea and Ryan and I have been collecting a few suggestions for where to go.

Until that day though, I’d like to pretend that these cookies would be  one of the sweets served at tea time. They are simple looking and dainty in size. The cookies have a subtle citrus flavor while also feeling a bit like a decadent treat. Sounds like a nice tea-time pairing to me.

I was also drawn to this recipe because I love desserts that use citrus. My usual go-to are lemon desserts, but I wanted to expand my horizons and using grapefruit felt exciting and unusual. Grapefruit is nice because it has a little bit of lemon’s tartness while also being a bit sweeter. Eat these cookies however you like, but I’ll eat them while pretending I’m at tea with Ryan in London.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Ingredients

Cookie:

zest of 1 grapefruit,  plus 1/4 cup of juice

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 egg yolks

Filling:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp grapefruit juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a small bowl, combine the zest and 1 tbsp of sugar.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, and salt.

4. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, beat the butter and remaining sugar on medium-high for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg yolks and beat until combined. The dough will turn a gorgeous yellow. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Mix in the sugar-zest mixture.

6. Add flour mix in two batches, alternating with the juice. Mix until combined.

7.  Collect dough into a disk shape and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

8. Flour your work surface and roll out the disk of dough to about 1/8″ thick. Using a 2″ round to cut out circles. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet about 1″ apart. These cookies don’t spread much as they bake so they can be pretty close together.

9. Bake until the edges start to turn golden. For me, this took 10 minutes. Martha Stewart recommends 18-20 minutes. So, set your timer and check them regularly.

10. Let cool completely before adding filling.

11. For the filling, using an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy – about 4 minutes. Then add the honey. Once the honey is incorporated, add the juice 1 tbsp at a time. Mix until creamy.

12. Spread filling onto the flat side of one cookie. Put another cookie on top of the filling with the flat side down. Store cookies in the fridge because butter cream will melt!

Messy level: I’m giving this two spoons. Anything with flour is inherently messy for me, but this recipe isn’t too different from sugar cookie type recipes. The grapefruit is actually the messiest part. During the zesting it releases a lot of oils and that makes things a little sticky. Also my juicer is too small for a grapefruit so I got a lot of juice on the counter. If you have a better juicer, you should be fine.

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The reason it’s perfect is because of the balance of tart and sweet. I think it mirrors the opposite ways people feel about this holiday. Some people are very anti-Valentine’s Day and some people love all the decorations, chocolates, and flowers. I’m lucky that Ryan is so accommodating because I both dislike and want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, all at the same time. Yes, I think going out to a fancy dinner is an important thing for couples to do, but why do I have to go out when it’s going to be crowded with an over priced prix fixe menu? So he took me out last week to a place I really really wanted to go, even though it was in Bethesda. And he buys me flowers because even though I don’t want fancy plans, I want pretty red roses that make me feel girly. So, I want it both ways and that’s why citrus squares are perfect.

This dessert isn’t heart shaped, but it is a little pink. It’s sweet, but it’s not chocolate. And it’s tart enough to fly in the face of a traditional Valentine’s Day. Use two forks to make it a romantic treat.

This recipe is adapted from Sweetly Serendipity. You want 1 cup total of citrus juice. You might not get exactly 1/2 cup from 3 blood oranges, or 1/4 cup from one lime, but use a combination of lemons, limes, and oranges and you’ll get enough a juice.

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:

6 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar (you can add up to 1 cup more if you like it really sweet)
3-4 blood oranges (zest from 3 oranges, and squeeze 1/2 cup of juice)
1 lemon (zest and 1/4 cup of juice)
1-2 lime (zest from 1 lime and 1/4 cup of juice)
1 cup all-purpose flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Start with the crust. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. I like to do it for about 2 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Then slowly add the flour mixture to the butter. Combine until just mixed.

4. Flour your hands and gather the dough into a rough ball. Place in the center of a 9×13″ baking pan. Use your hands to press the dough into the bottom of the hand. Keep flouring your hands as the dough begins to stick to you.

5. Put in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. Use these 20 minutes to zest and juice your oranges, lemon, and limes. You’ll end up with tri-color zest and some gorgeous dark pink juice.

6. Bake the crust for 15-20 minuets, until it is very lightly browned. Take out and let cool for 5 minutes before adding the filling.

7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, zest, juice, and flour. Whisk until it is fully combined.

8. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set. My oven runs hot so the filling was set in 25 minutes.

9. Let cool to room temperature and then sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Messy level: The messiest part of this recipe is preparing the zest and the juice. I had zest, juice, and seeds everywhere. Part of the reason was that I didn’t give myself enough space to work and I knocked something over, which then hit my little juice, which then spilled everywhere. But it’s also dirty because my hands were covered in sticky juice and the fruit oils. My hands also turned orange from working with so much citrus. The good part though, was the whole apartment ended up smelling like fruit.

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