Cook and Brew.

Here’s another smoothie recipe my grandmother taught me using pandan leaves. These abound at their home in the province and she would always make us whenever we spend our summer vacation there.

Ingredients:
1 pc buko, meat shredded, (reserve water)
18-20 pcs of pandan leaves
1 can (240 ml) Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup sugar

For 5 minutes, boil pandan leaves in the reserved buko water plus 1 cup of water. Remove leaves and add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Cool and combine buko and pineapple juice in a blender. At high speed, mix. Add to pandan mixture then serve with crushed ice.

1. How many servings of fruit do you have on average most days?
:: at least one

2. Do you like garlic in food?
:: yes! Especially fried garlic on my siomai as toppings. I used to dislike it when I was younger though.

3. Does the name of a food ever turn you off to it?
:: Not really unless it’s an exotic dish that I’d never eat.

4. Which foods that you believe are good for you do you stubbornly refuse to eat?
:: most veggies like ampalaya

5. Do you walk away from your meal still chewing your last bite (or two) ?
:: sometimes

We are recommended to have five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. And the best way to serve it is through smoothies. Smoothies are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Not only are they great tasting, they’re healthy drinks, too! They are great for breakfast or any time of the day.

Sharing a recipe which my grandmom taught me.

Ingredients:
1 pc small carrot
4 to 5 tbsp sugar or 1 tsp honey
1 tbsp raisin
1 can (240 m) Pure Pineapple Juice
12 pcs ice cubes

In a blender, blend carrot and raisins with the Pineappe Juice until crushed. If your blender doesn’t like carrots try chopping it up and adding it one piece at a time during the blending. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Makes 4 servings
Excellent source of Vitamin A for good eyesight.

This is an Italian phrase that has something to do more commonly with pastas and it means “To the tooth” or “To the bite”. Often, this can be read at the cooking instructions of pasta on their plastic labels. There are also a number of restaurants worldwide with such name.

By Al dente, it means pasta is cooked just firm to the bite. Tender but not mushy. Never crunchy. The pasta will still offer some resistance when being chewed.

The term is also occasionally used in reference to cooking vegetables, such as green beans, but should be interpreted as cooking them just until they lose their raw taste, as a way to avoid overcooking them.