Ann Esselstyn, Where Are You?

The exuberant and charming Ann Esselstyn, one of our hosts at the "E2 Immersion" made everything look easy! Ann, can you come to my house? I'd love to make food with you in my kitchen! She helped everyone believe that they could be "like Ann" in the kitchen to create plant strong menus for everyone. I think she may be on to something

After heading to my local Whole Foods Market, a vegetable market, Target, and Macy's (new bra, and that is a high math problem, more later). I got home, cleaned out the fridge, packed legumes and nuts in new opaque containers...my kitchen is high styling. As I am chopping and dicing, I am thinking of Ann and the poise she so easily displayed in the kitchen. I want to be Ann. I love Ann.

In my kitchen, I guess I got a little carried away. Pots are steaming and boiling. The oven is roasting veggies, I am drying steamed collards, the place looks like a kitchen at a fancy restaurant. This is one Plant Strong experience.

All of a sudden, I forget something. And that sweet smell permeating throughout my house was the overly cooked yams...and in the top steamer was a pound of asparagus...so steamed that their color changed from dark green to a light kiwi color.

I can't throw food away. It is against my nature. Sometimes, I find little science experiments in the back of the fridge...a remnant of something I couldn't throw out. So, with a pound of asparagus (at $4.99 a pound), I was wondering what their fate would be? Answer? Easy. Guacamole, well, actually, I am calling this "guacahummus." And, it is really good. Here's what to do:

Asparagus "Guacahummus"

One can of no salt added Garbanzo beans
One pound of really steamed asparagus
2-3 cloves of garlic
Liquid from the beans

Pulse the beans until pureed. Cut the asparagus stems, so that you have mostly the upper 3/4 of the stem. Add to the beans. Pulse and add garlic cloves. Pulse until a smooth and creamy looking hummus appears. You made need to add some liquid. Your decision. You should have about two cups of mixture. Very hummy, I mean yummy. The taste was delicious. Enjoy as a dip, or as a component to Nori rolls.

Live Plant Strong.

Thought of the Day: Your plant strong way of buying food, preparing it, and eating it, is far superior than anything else you can imagine.