Sweet Spinach Smoothie

This recipe comes from fitnessmagazine.com. 

I like this smoothie but it's a little thick. I add apple juice and a couple cubes of ice to thin out the mix. 

6 ounces plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 cups spinach leaves, packed
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
15 green or red grapes
2 tablespoons chopped avocado
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix together in a food processor or blender. 

Cucumber-Pepper Slaw

This recipe comes from James Roper via saveur.com. 


1 large cucumber, split lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced crosswise
1 tbsp. kosher salt
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup rice vinegar
½ tsp. sugar
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 habanero pepper, seeded and julienned
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and julienned
1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 oz. feta, cut into ½" pieces (optional)
⅓ cup roughly chopped basil

Toss cucumber and salt in a colander set over a bowl; let drain for 15 minutes. Spread cucumber onto paper towels and pat dry. Whisk oil, vinegar, sugar, and pepper in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, peppers, onion, feta if using, and basil; toss to coat. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.

Gluten Free Mushroom and Ricotta Ravioli with Pesto

I had to title this Gluten Free because this recipe is so good you can't tell they are gluten free. I swear. I am not lying. These ravioli taste just perfect.

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 c gf flour mix plus more as needed for dusting

1 T xanthan gum

1 t salt

3 eggs

1/2 c milk plus more as needed to keep dough soft

15 oz ricotta

12 oz mushrooms
1 small onion

Couple splashes red wine

Directions

Pasta:

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the xanthan gum and salt. Mix a little and then sift the entire mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add the eggs and milk to the bowl of dry ingredients. Run the stand mixer on medium-low speed with a paddle attachment until the dough is fully formed, about 5-7 minutes.

If using a pasta machine, cut off a piece of dough and roll it out to about ½ inch thickness. Remember that the width needs to be less than the width of the pasta machine opening. Lightly flour the dough with more potato starch as needed. Make sure to keep the main ball of dough cool and moist because making the pasta takes some time. Covering the dough with a milk-dampened cloth or paper towel. You can add more milk as needed as you work with a piece.

With a KitchenAid pasta sheet attachment, running the pasta through the attachment 3 times starting with setting 1, then 2, then 3 gets the dough to the right thickness. It’s thicker than paper, but still very thin but still pliable and just thick enough to be handled. If it gets too thin, it will tear and the ravioli leak during cooking.

If making the dough by hand, cut the ball of dough into golfball-sized pieces. Roll out each piece of dough as thin as possible. I have not made the ravioli by hand.
I tend to leave the main ball of dough as large as possible until I need a piece to assemble 3-4 ravioli. That is the most I can do at a time with this dough.

Filling:

Wash the mushrooms and thinly slice them. Thinly slice the onions. Sauté the mushrooms and onions in olive oil for about 15 minutes on medium to medium high heat, stir occasionally. Once the mushrooms are nicely browned add a couple splashes of red wine, scrape the pan and cook for another 5 minutes to get a nice reduction. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix with the ricotta cheese.

Assembly:

Place a sheet of pasta on the work surface, space dollops of filling on the pasta, then put another piece on top. Some people recommend using an egg white wash to help the pasta stick together. With this dough, I prefer to roll the edges of the pasta to keep them nice and tight. First I cut the ravioli strip into squares and then trim excess from the edges to get a consistent edge that is ovalish in shape matching the dollop of filling. Then I pinch a spot on the edge, pull gently and curl over to create a rolled edge. I continue this all the way around the edge to create a "rope" edge.

Drying:
Place each ravioli on an unlined baking sheet. Cook them once you are done making them. If they sit on the sheet for too long, fluid from the filling will soften the dough enough so the ravioli will stick to the baking sheet and tear when you try to pick them up for cooking. I use a spatula to get them off the baking sheet which minimizes damage. Do not place the ravioli on parchment paper or wax paper. They stick much faster to either paper. Any ravioli that you do not cook, put them into a tupperware container and into the fridge. They can be cooked the next day. I am testing how they respond to freezing

.

Extra:
Usually I have extra pasta even though the filling is used up at 30 or so ravioli. I also run that through the pasta roller, but only go to level 2 and then run that sheet through the fettuccine cutter. They are good too. They keep for a day in the fridge, after that they get too hard and don't taste as good in my opinion.

Makes approx 28-30 ravioli

update: monday september 16 - fixed ingredient amounts for filling