recipe: Mixed Berry & Banana Smoothie

I’ve been sick for the past few days.  Getting wet in the rain during work made things worst. As much as I could, I stay away from taking medications.  

A few days ago, I bought 4 1-liter packs of fruit juices.  I really love Tipco’s 100% guava juice.  

The other day, we were in Shangrila Mall and went to Healthy Options to buy pistachios, a staple snack item at home.  I bought a pack of frozen organic mixed berries which I planned to make into a smoothie. 

Berries and bananas are good sources of vitamin C. They help boost one’s immune system.  

I am sharing with you my recipe for mixed berry and banana smoothie.  I still can’t get enough of Jamba Juice Banana Berry smoothie, so I am making one at home.  This is a no brainer actually.

Mixed Berry & Banana smoothie

1 cup of frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)

2 medium sized bananas

½ cup mixed berry juice

½ cup orange juice (I used Tipco’s 100% blood orange juice)

Crushed ice

Slice bananas in small pieces.  Place in a blender. Add the other ingredients and blend well.  Take note I didn’t put sugar. The berries are a bit sour, so add sugar if you prefer your smoothie sweet.

enjoy! 

Friday Night at Nolita

Last Friday night, I went with my friend G to watch the Azkal’s game at the Azkal Sports Bar at the Fort Strip.  Though not yet officially a fan of the Azkals, I could feel the sadness brought about by the team’s lost, hence, they did not qualify for the finals.  That’s another story though. This entry isn’t about football.

After watching the game,  we  went to try the pizza at Nolita, one of the newly opened food places at the nearby Boni High Street Central.  Nolita, short for “North of Little Italy” serves authentic New York Style pizza.  As we entered the restaurant, many tables were still vacant, which I think was quite unusual on a Friday night.  We chose a table for four near the door. 

Up above the counter, the restaurant’s menu was written on blackboards.  

This is no fancy fine dining restaurant.  Nolita has a modern loft style décor, a relaxed and easy vibe.  You queue, choose from the menu, order and pay at the counter.  Service was prompt.

On one side of a black wall, black lamps were mounted in a pattern… a quirky décor I must say but it surely caught one’s attention.

  

G, a photographer like me, wanted something picture pretty for the camera.  I told him, let’s just order what looks yummy.  We eyed the big slices of assorted pizza lined up at the front counter. 

G chose the broccoli and cheese pizza.  He really wanted colors and textures on my food photos.  :)   

While I opted for the wild mushroom walnut ricotta cheese, not picture pretty but oh so yummy. Just look at the globs of ricotta cheese!

For drinks, it was rootbeer float for G (no picture as the foam collapsed before i was able to get a shot) and a virgin strawberry mojito for me (virgin, because I still plan to do some work at home). 

We also got and shared the Nolita Burger, a 6 oz Angus beef patty on a homemade brioche bun, with bacon, caramelized onion, blue cheese topped with a sunny side up egg.  I am not a fan of blue cheese but it somehow goes well with the meat and sweetness of the caramelized onion.  As for the beef patty, I love that it’s pinkish inside and seared on the outside, but I wish it was a bit juicier.

They also serve imported beers. 

a picture for posterity. :)

Would I go back to try the other items on the menu?  A mom-daughter date is in the works. Pipay, a mac & cheese monster, can’t wait to try their version.  G & I  couldn’t even finish the burger, there was no more room for dessert....and that’s what I’m coming back for.  :)


Btw, halfway through our meal, more people kept coming and lining in to have a taste of Little Italy.  ;)

Nolita

2nd floor

Bonifacio High Street Central

The Fort, Taguig City

Jambafied with Jamba Juice

I first had a taste of Jamba Juice in Rockford, Illinois wayback in 1998. I was on a month long US vacation.  And Jamba juice was one of the memorable things that highlighted that trip.

A few months back, while lurking at food blogs, I found out Jamba Juice finally opened its doors here in Manila. 

I have been here three times already.  The first one was when I met up with my friend and back up shooter R.  I had my workout session at the nearby Fitness First.  I had the Carribean Passion (passionfruit-mango juice, strawberries, peaches and orange sherbet)  and steel cut oatmeal in blueberry & blackberry with brown sugar topping. Slow cooked with soymilk, one serving  contains 2 g of soluble fiber from whole oats. R chose the orange juice.  I can barely  remember  (blame it on my so called “senior moments”) how the passion fruit smoothie tasted like, all I remember , it was slightly sour.  But I love the steel cut oatmeal.  It was filling. The fruit puree is sweet enough and the brown sugar made it all the more sweet (there’s no need to add sugar). 

The second time, was on a Mom-daughter date with pipay.  Pipay, a mango juice/shake fanatic . ordered, as usual,  the mango smoothie.  Thinking that it would be too sour for her, the kind wait staff suggested the mango agogo. 

It’s a combination of mangoes, orange juice, pineapple juice and non-fat frozen yogurt. Pipay doesn’t like yogurt and they offered to substitute orange sherbet instead.  And this I found out, they don’t use our local mango.  They use the Mexican variety. I silently hoped that Pipay wouldn’t find it too sour.  On the contrary, she loved it!  Mango fanatic talaga.  

I am not in the mood for sour drinks, and Banana Berry smoothie was recommended to me.   It’s a combination of bananas, blueberries, apple-strawberry juice, raspberry sherbet, and frozen yogurt which I asked to be substituted again with orange sherbet (like Pipay, I’m not a fan of yogurt).

Also on the menu are the pizza like California Flat Bread, breakfast wraps, pretzels and other breads.  We got the parmesan pretzel which Pipay gobbled up in seconds (and had another one to bring home for Gabby).

Recently, I find myself again in Jamba Juice with my friend G after watching the Azkal’s game.  We both had the steel cut oatmeal – blueberry & blackberry for me (this time without the sugar) and fresh bananas for G.

I know I would keep on coming back for more to try the other offerings on their menu.  It is conveniently located  near Fitness First.  A healthy dose of fruit after a workout.

Jamba Juice

 7th Avenue cor. 29th Street 

Bonifacio High Street Central (across R.O.X.)

Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

Travel: Ho Chi Minh: Banh Mi

The French’s colonization of Vietnam left a mark evidently seen in the country’s architecture and food.

One French influence in Vietnamese cuisine is the baguette. 

I don’t know how they do it, but the baguette in Vietnam has a different character from those I tried here back home. I told Lenz, “parang may drugs yata, I can’t stop myself from eating this”.  From the slices of baguette they served in the hotel during breakfast, to the slices of baguette that accompanied the Saigon beef stew we had for dinner over at Highlands Coffee…and not to forget the baguette sandwich peddled at every street corner in Saigon, called Banh Mi.  Saigon’s baguette is crusty and crackly on the outside and soft on the inside (it must be from the combination of wheat and rice flour). The way I like my French bread to be.  I could imagine myself eating this bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I would be in nirvana.

Like the famous pho, it is a crime to leave Vietnam without savoring this fusion of French & Asian sandwich.  It is made with baguette filled with various meat fillings – from sliced meats, liver pate, pork floss, cilantro, cucumber slices, tomatoes, pickled carrots and daikon, mayonnaise and smothered with a dark sauce.  You can also request to include fried egg as additional filling.

We had this twice, one as a snack and another during our second day as an early dinner meal before we left for the airport.  And much like our own adobo, it varies from vendor to vendor. One serving of Banh Mi costs around 15,000 dong or less than 50 pesos.

Travel: Ho Chi Minh: Vietnamese Coffee on a rainy morning

Day 2 of my Saigon adventure.  It was raining when we woke up very early the  next day.   We plan to hit Ben Tanh market for some pho and spring rolls and do a bit of shopping.  I also planned to walk along Pasteur street for more street food, but we can’t do that because of the rain.

When we went down to the lobby, hotel breakfast wasn’t ready yet.  I wanted coffee from the nearby “Starbucks” – manned by a kindly Manang Vietnamese.  The store in front was still close and Saigon was still waking up from its slumber.  

Manang Vi (that’s what I call her) had set up some small monoblock chairs, stools and tables in front of the store (which she would later dismantle when the clothing/bags store opens).  I ordered coffee with milk for me and black coffee for  Lenz.  Lenz decided to wait inside the hotel. While I, wanted to savor the cool rain, watching as people go about their morning rituals. Taking photos from where I sat on a stool as Manang Vi prepared our cups of coffee.

My Vietnamese coffee with milk.  Take note of the condensed milk at the bottom of the glass.

Later, two local men sat beside me and ordered coffee.  For the next several minutes, we all just sat there enjoying our coffee and the rain. It was all so laid back. So relaxing. So far away from the stress of work, the pressure to earn a living and deadlines.  

image taken with my iphone.

I won’t forget this one particular Saigon morning…. raining (oh how I love rainy days)… sipping a cup of sweet, milky Vietnamese coffee.  I wish I could do this everyday.

PS

I wanted to bring a piece of Saigon with me back home. Later, at Ben Tanh Market, I bought 2 kilos of weasel coffee… to share with my Mom and Sir B and my friend R.

Here’s a funny exchange with my friend R after telling him that the coffee beans are gathered from the poops of weasels.  Weasels are fed coffee beans and the undigested beans are excreted, then gathered for processing.

R:  Sigurado ka hinugasan nila yung beans?

Me: HINDI! Hahaha…. Kaya pakuluan mo yung tubig mo ng mabuti…

Of course, we were just joking.

This morning, I got a message from R…. “masarap yung coffee.”

:)

Travel: Ho Chi Minh How to eat Cha Tom

When we used to frequent Vietnam Foodhouse in Megamall  more than ten years ago, Cha Tom is one of the dishes we always order.  I love this because it’s light and refreshing  and because you get to eat a lot of vegetables with it.   As I have written in my earlier entry, Cha Tom is an appetizer of shrimp patty wrapped around a sugarcane stick and grilled. Why on a sugarcane stick, most probably, to impart a sweet flavor from the sugarcane juice.

So a trip to Quan An Ngon is not complete without my favorite Vietnamese dish. 

The shrimp in sugarcane stick came with a plate of vegetables like lettuce, basil, mint, vermicelli topped with peanuts and chives, cucumber, pickled jicama and carrots, rice paper and the ever present dipping sauce Nuoc Nam Pla.  It didn’t come with a bowl of water to wet the rice paper, I had to ask the waitress for one.  For those who will be going to HCMC  and going to try this dish for the first time, let me warn you that, if you let  your server do the wrapping for you, in Vietnam they do it with bare hands.

These series of photos will show you how to enjoy this lovely appetizer.  

Remove the shrimp meat from the sugarcane sticks. Cut into small pieces.

Wet the rice paper with water to slightly soften it and make it pliable and easy to work with. Place a piece of lettuce leaf and basil leaves on top of the rice paper.

Place a piece of softened vermicelli noodles on top of the lettuce/rice paper.

Add a piece of shrimp patty and layer with more herbs, cucumber, pickled jicama and carrots.

Roll 

Dip in nuoc nam pla and enjoy!