Okay, I recognize the fact that this “recipe” has two ingredients. But some of my favorite recipes are really that simple, and in the summertime I’m not inclined to do anything that feels too much like cooking. One of my current summer goals is to make full use of my glorious Vitamix – so I’ve been doing a whole bunch of green juices and smoothies lately. Typically I try to go for all vegetable varieties, but as a post workout snack, I’ll stick some fruit into the mix. Here was yesterday’s sweet-tart combination:

Blueberry-Orange Smoothie

1 cup frozen unsweetened blueberries (wild organic from Maine, if possible)

1 cup orange juice

Put blueberries in a blender, add a cup of orange juice, and blend until smooth. {To this, you could add some plain yogurt, or a frozen banana, or an ounce of gin, or some frozen spinach if you are feeling virtuous, but frankly, it’s quite refreshing on it’s own.}

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For the holiday weekend we drove up to Montreal, but I was excited to get home, because waiting for me was my brand new bicycle, Beyoncé! I haven’t had my own two wheels in several years, so I spent a few hours on Sunday evening taking her around and practicing starting and stopping. The seat height is about 6 inches taller than I’m used to, but the bike rides like a dream. My first ride was a 12 mile leisurely (read: very very slow) trip. I tried to avoid pedestrians, birds, and squirrels, and made it safely home in one piece… Once I get my training wheels off, I’ll be using her for longer distances, maybe some commuting, and dare I say it, triathlons?

The other part of my Sunday was spent food shopping. I made my way to the store (three actually, none of which had real full fat buttermilk?!) to stock up for this week’s meals. I’ve been reading my way through Diana Henry’s new book A Change of Appetite, and dreaming of all the vegetal foods that we’ll be eating to make up for our gastronomic excess this week in Canada.

Per usual, I start out with a list that changes on a whim based on what’s looking good at the store. (Forgive the spelling mistakes…”buratta”?? I should know better.) Wild sockeye steaks were on sale for 9.99, so that’s coming up for Monday night, nectarines were as hard as rocks, so they got replaced by cherries, and while I had the full intention of actually cooking something last night, I ended up with chopped up leftovers tossed in salad for dinner.

Happy Monday everyone! What will you be cooking up this week?