Heirloom Shake from Purée Artisan Juice Bar and pizza from Mellow Mushroom

Heirloom Shake from Purée Artisan Juice Bar

Last weekend I made it to the recently opened DC location of Bethesda's Purée Artisan Juice Bar. Located inside MINT Health Club, at 1724 California Street NW, Purée Juice Bar occupies a sunny side corner of the gym entrance. You don't have to be a member to wander in for a 100% cold pressed, organic juice or a raw vegan nosh.

But I was interested in their smoothie offerings, which they call "Shakes." (They also call their friendly baristas, "Puristas.") I ordered the Heirloom Shake. The artfully-designed drink menu listed this particular shake at $9.75 and said it was good for glow and fiber. It certainly was a glowing orange color. What a beautiful drink! It contained carrot juice, ginger, coconut, and banana. Ginger was the dominant flavor and I swear it made my whole body hum.

Purée offers a host of cleanse packages. And, strangely, they promote bee pollen. (Which I had to google, the worried vegan that I am. Seems like an animal byproduct with allergen potential. So I won't be doing a shot of that. Must be a fitness thing.)

They have a to-go case and a shelf with cool vegan items, like Ape Man Food's Walnut Meat Tacos, Totally Rawganic desserts, and Gnosis chocolates. Also some dry brushes, vegan nail polishes and removers, and something called Cocoa Vegan Booty. (Must investigate.)

Mellow Mushroom pizza

Afterwards, my boyfriend and I hit the rooftop bar of Mellow Mushroom Adams Morgan, located at 2436 18th Street NW. A Southern chain, Mellow Mushroom is often a veg-friendly oasis when we travel in the South. 

Mellow Mushroom has many vegan options with nutritional info on their website. I especially love their build-your-own salads. Plus, the servers know what's up. When you order a pie with Daiya cheese, they offer not to brush the crust with butter or cover the pie with Parmesan.

Mega Veggie Specialty Pie

This nicely charred Mega Veggie pie (above) had red sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, black olives, Roma tomatoes, broccoli, banana peppers, artichoke hearts and crumbled tofu. And, boy, did it have Daiya. We ordered the small, 10" size but could only eat a few slices; it was that loaded. The pizza made excellent leftovers.

Mellow Mushroom also has a great beer list, with many local options. And three floors of seating. If you want to score the rooftop tables be prepared to hover. The only downside is the music. Sometimes it's awesome, often it's not. This time it was blaring 90's slacker rock. Quite a counterpoint to Purée's chill health club vibe.    

Mellow Mushroom, exterior night

Blueberry–Green Smoothie

Here is a smoothie from this month's VegCookbook Club selection, Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. (Free PDF version available here.) This smoothie has an ingredient I've never used before: bitter melon. I scored it at my local farmers' market.

Bitter Melon (Karela)

Blueberry–Green Smoothie

The other ingredients in this smoothie were familiar. Who doesn't love blueberries in a smoothie? The almonds required an overnight soak, which was the main prep. Otherwise, I had chia seeds, flax seeds, bananas, vegan milk, and coconut water all at the ready.

The bitter melon is supposed to have many health benefits. But how did it taste? I couldn't taste the bitterness when drinking this amazing smoothie. It did have a subtle after-taste though. Not at all unpleasant; you simply feel like you drank something slightly medicinal.  

If the bitter melon isn't for you, Singla recommends subbing spinach or kale for the "green." I enjoyed this smoothie and can't wait to try other recipes in this cookbook.

Quick smoothie tip

Invest in a large measuring cup for handy measuring and serving.

My trusty 2-cup measuring cup recently shattered on our kitchen floor, as glassware tends to do. And to replace it my boyfriend decided to supersize it to this 4-cup giant. At first I was taken aback. Did I even have shelf space for this sucker?

However, this Pyrex measuring cup has already earned a prized spot in my smoothie accoutrements. It's so handy when measuring ingredients and serving large batches of smoothies. I'm looking forward to soup-making with it this fall too.

What are your smoothie tips?

Raspberry mint smoothie

I made this raspberry and mint smoothie over the weekend. I liked the combo and found it most refreshing. But my boyfriend thought it tasted like cough syrup. Maybe adding chocolate would have helped? Sadly, I didn't have any form of chocolate in the house. How did this happen? So I have placed an order with my favorite smoothie powder source, Mountain Rose Herbs. Raw cacao is on its way. It's organic and fair trade too.

Raspberry Mint Smoothie

Blend the following:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup frozen red raspberries 
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds (optional)
• 2 tsp maca powder (optional)
• 1 handful of fresh mint leaves

Serves 2.

Drink Your Greens Smoothie

Today's smoothie is from July's VegCookbook Club pick, Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating by Dreena Burton. I didn't get to this smoothie in July, although other Clubbers did. I did love the "But Where Do You Get Your Protein?" smoothie that I made.

If you haven't heard of VegCookbook Club yet, I highly recommend it. It's a relaxed and inspiring year-long version of VeganMoFo. You can join in any time. Look, I'm still pining for this recipe from July!

The current month's selection is Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. It even has a free PDF version available here! I am going to try a smoothie recipe or two from this cookbook. However, I think I need to upgrade my blender first.

Drink Your Greens Smoothie
I used spinach rather than kale for the greens. However avocado also adds to the emerald hue. What else is in it? Fresh OJ, cantaloupe (my new favorite freezer item), banana, and agave. This lovely smoothie really did make me want to drink my greens. I think more green smoothies will be coming this month.

Vega Energizing Smoothie

Vega Energizing Smoothie packets have taken over the checkout area of my local Whole Foods. In fact, I was standing in line with green smoothie ingredients when first I noticed them. I've read Thrive, the book by Vega-formulator and front man, Brendan Brazier. (It's a great gift for aspiring athletes.) But I haven't experimented with the Vega product line.  

So in the name of my VeganMoFo smoothie theme, I decided to give this ubiquitous smoothie product a chance. Of course, I had to get the Choc-A-Lot flavor. However, it comes in other flavors, including Bodacious Berry, Oh Natural, Tropical Tango, and Vanilla Almondilla. 

The smoothie was simple to prepare. You simply blend the powder pack with water or another liquid. I opted for equal parts unsweetened almond milk and water. The result wasn't chalky or cloyingly sweet, as I expected it to be. It also wasn't very tasty. To me, the flavor was almost metallic or chemically. Perhaps it's an acquired taste? I'm not a fan of stevia, which is an ingredient.   

The other ingredients listed are impressive. A single packet packs in loads of plant-based protein, flax seeds, greens, and digestive enzymes. All for $1.99.  After drinking the smoothie, I didn't feel "heavy." I also didn't have teeth full of seeds and fibers, like I do after berry-rich smoothies.

I'm sorry that I didn't enjoy this smoothie experiment more. The Vega smoothie is totally vegan. Dairy, gluten, and soy free too. 

Quick smoothie tip

Freeze your bananas in chunks for easier blending and portion management.

I went home for the holiday weekend and was making smoothies with my parents. My Dad gave me a whole frozen banana for the blend and I was taken aback. Surely, he knows to chunk up his smoothie bananas?

I picked up this habit because I don't have a powerful blender. These smaller pieces of frozen banana are easier to cream into submission. Plus, I can portion out managed amounts for single or double batches.

What are your smoothie tips?