It's apple season!
It has been a rough year for many Ontario fruit farmers -- especially apple producers. The exceptionally warm winter which led to an early spring, meant early blossoms on the trees. But along came a cold snap in April and the poor flowers' stamens were frozen, making tough work for our provinces' hard-working growers. It has been estimated by some that Ontario has lost nearly 85 per cent of the crop this year!
Sad indeed. I grew up on a small farm where we enjoyed fresh apples every fall straight from our orchard where we tended about ten apple trees, and one lone pear tree. I have fond memories of climbing to the top of the branches to shake the limbs so that the tree-top treasures would tumble to the ground where my sister Stephanie would be waiting to gather the bounty before one of our resident horses got to them. I recall a few years when, as a family, we would conduct a full day harvest of the fruit, and then ship most of the bushels off to become jars of tart juice or sweet cider. Mom's fruit cellar would be brimming with the cloudy, all natural beverages for months, even years to come, all from just our small family farm.
Living in the city, I now depend on farmers' markets and my local supermarket to supply me my apple a day habit. We can rest assured that even with the lack in Ontario this year we will still be able to find Mutsus, Red Delicious, Ambrosia and more, most likely shipped in from BC or Washington State. I am the first to support the idea to eat-local when possible, but when it comes to apples (and bananas), I can not see myself giving up my loves simply because they need to travel a wee bit further to arrive in my kitchen. Or in this case, my blender.
Here, I celebrate the in-season, albeit somewhat absent apple, in two ways:
1. Very Green Apple Smoothie
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Very Green Apple Smoothie
2 kale leaves, stems removed
1 lrg apple (any variety you favour) chopped
1/4 cucumber cut in chunks
1 generous t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 C fresh OJ (you can omit and add more water, coconut water, steeped tea, cooled or other fresh juice)
1/2 C cold water
Directions
Add all ingredients to high power blender. Blend until smooth. Slurp it up!
2. Apple Pie Smoothie
1 lrg apple (any variety you favour) chopped
1/4 C rolled oats*
1 C nut milk (almond, cashew, hemp etc.)
3 soft dates (or 2 Tbsp of maple syrup or agave syrup)
1/2 T chia seeds or flax seeds
1 t of cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla extract
4-5 ice cubes
pinch of sea salt
*PREP: Soak oats in the nut milk for about 20-30 minutes to soften them up
Directions
Add all ingredients to high power blender. Blend until smooth. Slurp it up!
Want to get the goods on RAW FOOD Prep? I am teaching a class on all the basics in November, making it easy, accessible, and affordable - no dehydrator needed! Check it out HERE!