Spring into Color

I stole today's blog post title from a clothing shop window that I pass on my walk to work. Also on this route I noticed a coming soon sign for a raw, organic juice bar! That's a sure sign of spring.

The two colorful recipes below are from the Oh She Glows website and have provided me some much needed relief from dark, bleak March mornings. The Oh She Glows Cookbook is this month's VegCookbook Club selection.

Green Monster Vegan Overnight Oats

I think I missed out on the overnight oats craze. This recipe is a marriage of that easy breakfast concept of soaking your rolled oats in the fridge overnight and the Green Monster smoothie that I enjoyed last post. Sadly, while I dig the Green Monster flavor (vegan milk + spinach + chia seeds + banana), I don't think gummy oats are my cup of tea. I found them cold and bland. The fresh blueberries were the bomb, of course. I think I'll stick to smoothies and the odd side of fresh fruit.

Neon Pink Smoothie "Juice"
This is a citrus juice meets whole fruit smoothie that you "juice" in your high-speed blender. Refreshing (thanks to the grapefruit, cucumber, and apple) and bright and beautiful to behold (thanks to the beet). I used a whole beet because it was wee. Next time I'd add ginger for even more morning kick.

Sweetgreen's new 14th & W location

Sweetgreen, a rapidly expanding Georgetown-born salad chain, recently opened their seventeenth location at 14th and W ST NW. (The actual address is 1315 W Street NW.) Unlike many of the other popular salad shops (like Chop't), Sweetgreen touts sustainability, offering up local and organic ingredients.

In this shiny, sterile warehouse-inspired space, you'll find a giant chalkboard that proudly lists their local produce purveyors. The large yet spare menu is also posted, with "V" for vegan options, under exposed CFL bulbs. (An even more detailed ingredient and nutrition run-down is available from Sweetgreen's online menu.) Below the menu is a well-staffed counter, where you place and follow your order assembly-line style.

The chic p

My boyfriend and I ate here on a rainy Saturday afternoon. We were interested in trying their wraps, but wraps didn't seem to be an option. Instead we had two salads with gratis sides of bread. My boyfriend got the Chic P, a mix of mesclun and spinach with crumbled falafel, whole chickpeas, cukes, peppers, and pita chips. It came with a lemon hummus tahini dressing.

You do get to specify your salad dressing amount at the tossing station. (Or ask for it on the side.) My boyfriend went with medium but thought that selection netted a rather skimpily dressed salad. In fact, he declared the entire salad bowl to be a light snack by his definition.

The spicy sabzi

I ordered the Spicy Sabzi, which had a kale and spinach base. It came with some quinoa, broccoli, carrots, raw beet cubes, sprouts, and tofu cubes. I went with light dressing, a ho-hum carrot chili vinaigrette. But I asked for heavy Sriacha sauce, which helped add some flavor.

It is hard when eating salads out at restaurants, not to compare them with your favorite healthy, large, and affordable homemade salads. I think if you were a salad newbie, these Sweetgreen salads would please. You may want to b.y.o.f., "bring your own fork," as the compostable flatware makes it difficult to spear some ingredients, like raw beets.

   

My boyfriend and I also split a Sweetpress juice, called Purity. This green juice blend has apple, kale, spinach, cucumber, lemon, and ginger. It was very light and fresh. Juice is something I still don't make at home, so this was a treat.  

Top o' the Morning juice recipe

For my visit home last week, I packed my smoothie arsenal, which was recently restocked by Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Kitchen. My Dad matched my mixology efforts with his own inventive juice recipes. He's really the "Juiceman," as my parent's first juicer was called. (They've since moved on to a different brand.)

Here is my Dad's current favorite recipe. It's a gingery, sweet and sour blend that gets your blood flowing. He didn't have a name for it, but I'm giving it one here, based on his usual bright morning greeting.

Top o' the Morning Juice
Wash, prep, and juice the following ingredients:

• 5 carrots, peeled
• 2 inch-piece ginger root
• 2 oranges, peeled and quartered
• 2 apples, quartered
• 1/2 lime, peeled and quartered

Serves 2.