Baked Sweet Potato with Roasted Grapes & Ricotta Honey all begins with a Perfectly Baked Potato.  From there prepare for a flavor bonanza.

On their own, tender baked sweet potatoes take on a lovely caramelized flavor.  Mash them with a little butter seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon and they become very, very comfortable.

Roasted grapes.  Holy WOW!  From the moment I first saw this recipe I couldn’t wait to try my hand at roasting grapes.  I had no idea that what had intrigued me would so captivate my taste buds.  When roasted, the sweet flavor of the grapes becomes nicely concentrated.  Like little bites of the most delicious jam.

I’m already thinking about the next thing I want to top with these sweet gems.

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Here’s to a fresh and healthy start to the New Year.  I’ve only had my new Vitamix blender for a few days now but I’m certain I’m going to love it.  I’ve made Orange Vanilla Vinaigrette and Thai Pumpkin Soup using recipes from the Vitamix cookbook.  Both were delicious.  This morning I made this Going Green Smoothie without a recipe.  We’ll call it a trial run.

I pulled together a good assortment of ‘greens’ from my fridge.  Kiwi, green grapes, celery, a lime wedge, a sprig of fresh mint, and two big handfuls of kale.  I knew adding pineapple or banana would sweeten the mixture but I vowed (to myself) to keep it green.

So in addition to all the green goodness, I added a 1/2 cup of water, a cup of ice, and a squeeze of agave nectar into the blender container and gave it a whirl for about a minute.

Voila!  I don’t think it can get any greener and it definitely had a smoothie-like texture.  But how did it taste?

Before we get to that, let me come clean about a secondary reason for craving a Going Green Smoothie.  Last night I posed this question to our facebook friends “Is it wrong that I just layered a Biscoff cookie with jalapeno peanuts, topped with a mini-Twix bar and popped them in the microwave for just a few seconds?”

This morning the evidence was still laying on the counter as if to say you might ponder this question a bit longer.

One friend suggested that I might be experiencing some cravings.  But my favorite response to that question was this “Your choice, your belly, nothing wrong with that…except to ask…is it possible you’re experiencing cravings due to a lack of some nutritional factor?…just saying. Love your page!”

Last year when I first suggested that I thought I would love a Vitamix, there was concern that it would become another gadget that rarely got used.  I tried to recite all the fabulous ‘health’ reasons that demo man had given for owning a mega-blender, but he wasn’t buying in.  Flash forward a year, good things come to those who wait.  It’s too early to rule on whether my new Vitamix will keep it’s prime spot on our kitchen counter or whether my body will begin to crave raw juices and soups instead of airplane cookies and leftover Halloween candy.

But for now, my Going Green Smoothie was delicious, in a slightly earthy ‘green’ kind of way.  The fresh mint and lime were front and center, but the veggies were present as well.  No recipe to go with this trial run yet, other than I followed the ‘method’ suggested by Vitamix.  Water in first, fruits and veggies next, topped with ice.  Turn on blender set at the lowest setting then gradually increase speed.  Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

In the process of typing up this post I’ve now also made Tomato Basil & Avocado Soup served hot right out of the Vitamix.  I think I’m hooked.

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