The Bloody Mary, Four Ways

Try one of four original recipe riffs on the classic Bloody Mary, often called the World's Most Complex Cocktail. 

Photo by Brent Harrewyn for Edible Green Mountains

As a contributor to Edible Green Mountains magazine, I recently wrote an article on the Bloody Mary, often called the world's most complex cocktail.

Here's an excerpt...

I opened Pandora’s box recently by naively asking a group of friends what makes the best Bloody Mary. Their responses were as varied as those of a group of four-year-olds being asked to name the single best Christmas gift. My friends offered up renditions sweet, savory, classic, outlandish and everything in between—and each was adamant that his or hers was the best.

What I have learned is that this variety and lack of agreement applies to nearly every aspect of the Bloody Mary—not only the ingredients but also its very invention and namesake. There’s a reason that the Bloody, as its most ardent fans familiarly call it, has been dubbed the world’s most complex cocktail.

As part of the article, I included four different Bloody Mary recipes:

Southern bourbon holiday punch

Made with sweet tea, fresh lemon and good bourbon, this Southern bourbon punch is the perfect drink for a holiday party or any festive entertaining.

I bet you've been wondering why it's been a little quiet around Yankee Kitchen Ninja lately. If you subscribe to my recipe newsletter, you may have noticed that I'm not posting as much. It's time to tell you why.

Hold on to your hats: We're moving. Again. Right before Christmas.

It's turned out to be a much shorter stay here in Kentucky than we planned, as work has called us back to the East Coast. To Maryland, more precisely -- which is the first place we ever lived together as a couple, so it's a bit like going home.

But moving is damned hard work. Which is why I haven't been able to devote as much time to you as I'd like lately. And this move is happening right smack in the middle of the holiday season, leaving me no opportunity for all the holiday decorating, baking and eating that I look forward to all year long.

But I've managed to sneak in some drinking. (Heck, I'm going to need more than a little drinking to get through all this!)

So my parting recipe upon leaving Kentucky is most apropos: Southern bourbon holiday punch, an homage to my brief return to the South and the home of the best bourbon anywhere.

Ginger pear green smoothie

[ While I been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, all opinions are mine. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me! #BestLifeProject #CollectiveBias ]

Ginger pear green smoothie: an easy portable power breakfast packed with protein that's also low in calories, gluten free, dairy free, vegan ... and delicious!

Pears are one of my favorite things about fall. I'm less about pumpkin and more about pears. And lately I've been kind of obsessed with the pairing of ginger and pears (pairing pears -- ha ha! -- I didn't even plan that). And it's not just in recipes: I recently went a little cray cray when I found a ginger-pear hand lotion.

So when I was asked to incorporate Vega Essentials shake powder into a recipe, I knew it would be a ginger pear smoothie. (Which only makes sense because you shouldn't eat hand lotion, no matter how awesome it smells.)

I've really gotten into a smoothie groove lately. When you're trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, smoothies can be so helpful. They make eating a healthy breakfast easy and are a perfect afternoon treat when I'm in the mood for a little snack. Way better for me than answering the siren call of cookies!

Watermelon strawberry yogurt smoothie

[ While I have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser for this post, all opinions are mine alone. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me! #HappyBlending #CollectiveBias ]

This delicious yogurt smoothie is loaded with protein, probiotics, fiber, fresh fruit and even some secret veggies: healthy breakfast never tasted so good!

While I love fall and the cool weather it brings, I try not to rush it because it also means the end of summer -- which means the end of bountiful, healthy, delicious summer veggies and fruits.

Other food bloggers may have already gotten started on PumpkinFest 2015, but not me: I'm still buying as much ripe fruit as I can get my hands on!

Which means I knew exactly what ingredients to use when I was chosen to create a smoothie recipe using Chobani Greek Yogurt for Smoothie Week, being celebrated at the Kroger Family of Stores this week. Even though it's September, it's still the perfect time to enjoy watermelon, which will be in season for a little while longer.

For this watermelon strawberry yogurt smoothie, I used fresh watermelon but, once the cooler months roll around, you can use frozen watermelon instead; it's a great way to get the feeling of summer back any time of the year. Because of its high water content, watermelon freezes beautifully. I cut it into chunks, spread them on baking sheets, freeze until just firm, then store all the chunks in zipper bags in the freezer. Freezing them individually means you can easily remove only as many pieces as you need.

Easiest fruit and oatmeal breakfast smoothie

This super-easy, four ingredient fruit and oatmeal smoothie is a fast, delicious and healthy breakfast ready in just minutes -- perfect for crazy hectic mornings.

Still moving. (Note to self: Stop accumulating so much stuff!)

Which means that quick-and-easy is still my number one mantra.

While that's proven to be pretty easy for weeknight dinners, thanks in large part to the slow cooker, it's proving harder for breakfast, without falling into a rut of eating the same thing every day.

Smoothies have increasingly become my go-to breakfast -- if I've cooked up a batch of quinoa for the week, I opt for a quinoa protein smoothie with whatever berries are in the freezer. Otherwise, I rely on oatmeal to make my smoothies a nutritious and filling way to start the day.

This fruit and oatmeal smoothie is by far the easiest one I make. And it can pretty much be different every day if you mix up the type of fruit.

For the best consistency, you definitely want to use a mix of frozen and fresh fruit. If I've got bananas on the counter, I'll use those with frozen berries. With warmer weather and strawberry season on the horizon, I'll mix fresh strawberries with frozen bananas.

(Tip: You can get less-than-beautiful looking bananas -- still perfect on the inside, where it counts -- for a song in many grocery stores when they put them on the "reduced produce" rack. I buy a ton and then freeze the slices so that I always have a huge supply of smoothie bananas on hand in the freezer!)

Just be sure to keep the ratios of fresh to frozen the same. For the smoothie in this photo, I used frozen raspberries and fresh banana.

Blueberry quinoa protein smoothie

Skinny blueberry and banana quinoa protein smoothie: made with soymilk, it's dairy-free, gluten-free and refined sugar-free.

I never get tired of smoothies. How about you?

I swear there are an infinite number of good-for-you ingredients that can be combined to make smoothies so that you rarely need to drink the same flavor twice. Which is great, because I love drinking them both for breakfast or as an afternoon "snack", and usually what my taste buds are craving are pretty different at those two different times of the day.

This blueberry quinoa quinoa smoothie fits the bill for either time of day, as it's super-simple to make, with only five ingredients. Also, it's easy to create new flavor variations simply by changing up the kind of frozen fruit you use in this smoothie recipe. I've swapped out the blueberries for peaches, mangoes, strawberries, grapes -- you name it, I've tried it.

In addition to tasting great, this skinny smoothie is also loaded with energy-boosting protein. I work in all that good protein by first substituting Silk soymilk -- with 8 grams of plant-based protein per serving and no cholesterol -- for dairy milk. I like to use organic unsweetened Silk soymilk, but be sure to check out the full offering of Silk soy products.  Then I also add cooked quinoa, much the same way that I like to use old-fashioned oats in my favorite breakfast smoothie.

Plus, this smoothie is dairy-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free, making it a great no-guilt, good-for-you snack in that long stretch after lunch but before dinner. Just say no to sugary snacks and say yes to this blueberry banana quinoa protein smoothie instead!

The perfect gimlet

Learn how to easily shake up a perfect gimlet with your choice of gin or vodka.

Are you ready for some Mad Men? And do you have your cocktail shaker locked and loaded?

I'm torn about this final season premiere. I'm excited that the show is back but I'm also sad that the whole shebang is coming to end. However, I'm a firm believer that when a show is good, it should end gracefully, on a high, rather than continuing on ad infinitum until it jumps the shark.

(Are you listening, Shonda Rhimes? Grey's Anatomy should have ended about two seasons ago. Just sayin'.)

One of my favorite things about Mad Men (me and about a gajillion other people, I know) is the authentic mid-century feel of the sets and the costumes, as well as the characters' behaviors. And while those behaviors are not all admirable (e.g., smoking like chimneys), I think they did a lot of things right in the 50s and 60s.

Like cocktails.

Ah, classic vintage cocktails. No frou frou wine spritzers or pink umbrella drinks for the Mad Men, no sirreebob. (Can you imagine Don Draper ordering a skinny margarita?) And while Roger may have a weakness for a martini (or six) and Don his Old Fashioneds or Manhattans, mine is the same as moody ice queen Betty Draper Francis': the gimlet.

Green Mountain Mule

The Green Mountain Mule pairs Kentucky bourbon with Vermont maple syrup in this refreshing riff on a cocktail classic.

Peeps: It's no secret that I like my cocktails.

Which is a good thing, given that I now live in Kentucky, the bourbon capital of the world (I think it's pretty safe to make this broad claim).

However, it's now March and I'm reading reports that the sap is running in Vermont and the sugaring season has begun. Which makes me miss Vermont and its incomparable Grade B maple syrup like crazy.

So, being The Ninj, I decided to blend the specialty of my old home state with that of my new one and turn them into one delicious cocktail: the Green Mountain Mule, a riff on the Moscow Mule that pays homage to both Vermont and Kentucky.

Green power smoothie (to share with your dog!)

Love your dogs? Then share this kale, spinach, peanut butter and banana green power smoothie with them for breakfast.

Yesssssss! I'm so excited to share this smoothie post with you because I assume that you, like me, are a crazy dog person. In a good way. Meaning you love dogs. So much so that you may have been known to cook for them.

Chicken jerky, sweet potato chips, doggie meatloaf -- all part of my cook-for-dogs-repertoire. But now I've got a doggie breakfast specialty as well, to round out Smoothie Week: a kale and spinach peanut butter smoothie that is not only for them, it's also for you!

This easy-to-make smoothie is loaded with healthy ingredients that are good for you but also good (and perfectly safe) for your favorite poochie. And the slightly larger portion size accommodates you both: pour a little bit (start with 1/4 cup for a medium-sized dog) into a bowl for your pal and save the rest for yourself.

Oatmeal breakfast smoothie

Swap your favorite morning oatmeal for a delicious, filling oatmeal breakfast smoothie, loaded with fruit and naturally sweetened.

Smoothie Week continues with this super-filling and delicious oatmeal breakfast smoothie.

Earlier this week, I got you prepped with all my best tips and tricks. Did you make some nut milk? And then turn it into ice? Freeze some bananas? Great: You're all set to whip up one of the yummiest, healthiest smoothies around.

If you're like me, breakfast can get to be a little boring after a while. It's tough to keep it creative every single morning, isn't it? And as much as I love love LOVE my morning oatmeal (especially when it cooks overnight in the slow cooker), I need to change things up so I don't get into a rut and grow weary of my faves.

Which is why I love that this oatmeal breakfast smoothie. It's basically my favorite morning oatmeal -- complete with a whole heap of good-for-you fruits, some natural protein and no refined sugar -- in a delicious, drinkable form.

Perhaps the best thing about this oatmeal breakfast smoothie is that it is incredibly filling. When I have one for breakfast, I never get the eleven o'clock munchies; it keeps me full and energized until it's time for lunch.

Nut milk ice (plus 5 more smoothie tips and tricks)

Learn how to turn nut milk into ice and get other time- and money-saving tips and tricks for making the best smoothies ever.

Welcome to Smoothie Week!

During this year's Detox January, I've been making a lot of smoothies -- and not all of them are green! I know I'm late to the smoothie party (I seem to be late to every party lately), but I'm loving having them for breakfast.

One of the reasons I never entirely jumped on the smoothie-a-day bandwagon was because I don't like to clean the blender. SERIOUSLY! I mean, how lazy can you get, right? Last year I discovered (again, apparently this was only news to ME) the mason jar blender trick, which helped a lot; using mason jars means I only have to wash the blender blade -- the jars can go right in the dishwasher.

Booyah!

Another reason I wasn't fully embracing smoothies? Smoothie prep. I never seemed to have the right ingredients on hand when I really wanted a smoothie -- namely because they always seem to call for milk or yogurt or some other dairy product I didn't have in the fridge.

So one of my new favorite tips for making smoothies easier is nutmilk ice. (Again, if this is not news to anyone but me, keep it to yourself and let me have my little moment of glee, mmmmkay?) By freezing my favorite nutmilks into ice, I kill two birds with one stone -- nutmilk ice makes the perfect substitute for ice and/or milk in my favorite smoothies.

Caramel chai tea latte

While I have been compensated for this caramel chai tea latte recipe by #CollectiveBias and its advertisers, all thoughts and opinions are my own. #SweetWarmUp 

If you're trying to cut back on caffeine and refined sugar this year, swap your pricey coffee shop latte for this easy, rich and delicious DIY caramel chai tea latte.

A question for you to consider: How long have you been habitually and automatically drinking coffee to get yourself going in the morning? For me, it began when I was 17 (we won't talk about how long ago that was), a freshman in college ... and I wound up with a schedule of early-morning classes every day. But a few years ago, I spent a week at a British-run resort and started drinking tea every morning instead. I realized I preferred the flavor to coffee, and black tea had enough caffeine (half as much as coffee) to give me the little morning kickstart I needed without giving me the jitters. I never looked back.

Now, another question: Do you only think of tea, if you drink it at all, as an afternoon bevvie or a before-bed herbal relaxer? (I think I see a lot of hands going up.)

Well, peeps, it's time to wake up and smell the caramel chai latte, because tea is a great way to help you embrace The Way of Better Eating by cutting back on the amount of caffeine you consume while still giving you that little kickstart you (think you) need. Plus, thanks to the folks at Truvia, you can make even more positive choices and reduce your refined sugar intake by sweetening your latte with their natural, zero-calorie, stevia-plant-based sweetener.

Pumpkin maple smoothie {$100 gift card giveaway}

This healthy pumpkin maple smoothie, made with silken tofu, is gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free. A creamy, delicious, on-the-go fall-flavored breakfast or afternoon treat.

You'd have to be living under a very, very large rock not to have encountered some kind of Pumpkin Spice Whatevs this fall. While this craze may seem -- well -- more than a little cray cray, there's a reason why we all tend to get so worked up about pumpkin in October -- other than Halloween and jack-o-lanterns, of course. One whiff of pumpkin and cinnamon and nutmeg together can conjure up all sorts of memories of cool weather, falling leaves, cozy sweaters and crackling fires.

Which is probably why pumpkin spice is such a coffee house favorite -- you need a comforting beverage to keep you warm as you site by the crackling fire in the cool weather in your cozy sweater, watching the leaves fall.

But since I'm no longer a coffee drinker, I wanted to come up with a way that I, too, could enjoy Pumpkin Spice Whatevs this fall, without falling too far off the healthy food bandwagon.

As luck would have it, I got the opportunity recently to try some Mori-Nu Silken Tofu, which inspired me to focus my pumpkin spice attention on smoothies.

Now, before you freak out that I added tofu to my smoothie, let me explain. Mori-Nu is different because it's silken tofu, which has a very smooth and custard-like texture, so it adds a great creamy texture to smoothies (with no bananas required!). And it never needs to be pressed or drained, so you can use it as-is, straight out of the box -- you know The Ninj is all about speed and simplicity in recipes.

Chocolate berry black bean Mason jar smoothie

Attach a Mason jar to your blender to whip up this healthy chocolate-strawberry-black-bean smoothie -- dairy-free and naturally sweetened, it's the perfect good-for-you afternoon snack.

OMG, y'all: The Mason jar blender smoothie is not an urban myth! I still cannot quite believe that something crafty I saw on Pinterest actually worked.

This is a smoothie game-changer for me.

I love smoothies as much as the next person. I really do. Heck, I've got a bunch of smoothie recipes on this site. But I hate hate HATE to clean the blender. Did I say hate? I mean REALLY hate. Hand-washing is not my thing, so I don't make smoothies nearly as much as I'd like.

I know, it's sadly, pathetically lazy but hey, we've all got our issues, right?

Enter the Mason jar blender smoothie. (Again, I'm still reeling that this is not a lie.)

If you separate the blade attachment thingy from the pitcher portion of your blender, you can screw the blade attachment thingy right onto a Mason jar! And then, after you whirl it up, you can drink it directly from the jar! Not even an extra glass to wash! ERMERGAHD: Lazy person's dream!

I kid you not: I have photos.

Chai tea concentrate

Chai tea concentrate: an aromatic blend of herbs, spices, fruit and tea ready to mix with your favorite kind of milk for a hot or cold chai tea latte.

I realized recently that I almost never give you drink recipes, unless they're boozy. Which may make some of you think that I never drink anything unless it has booze in it. (Jeez -- I'm beginning to give myself a reputation!)

Au contraire. 

I have become a tea drinker over the past few years. It started on a vacation to the British Virgin Islands a few years ago. On said vacation, I was actually getting a ridiculous amount of sleep and feeling very well rested (this is pretty much the goal of any of my vacations). Which meant that I was not craving wake-me-the-hell-up coffee every morning. And, since it was the British Virgin Islands, I decided to be queenly and have a pot of tea with breakfast instead of coffee.

And it stuck. I'm now a morning tea drinker.

Not so much of an afternoon tea drinker, though. Not even herbal teas. Until last month.

What happened last month, you ask? I went to a local food swap and scored a jar of spiced chai, courtesy of fellow food swapper Lisa Barnes of Fiddleheads Cuisine (you've got to love a food swap with a professional chef!). It was just the right blend of spiciness, sweetness and floral notes -- perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up that doesn't pick-me-up quite as much as a cup of coffee, which would wind up preventing me from sleeping at night.

Tart cherry cocktail

Ready for a more modern take on the classic Cosmopolitan?

You've probably heard a lot about tart cherry juice lately. The new darling of the morning show health segment, tart cherry juice is making big headlines for its anti-inflammatory properties – all the benefits of arthritis meds but wicked tastier.

Leave it to The Ninj, then, to turn this new healthy superfood into a cocktail.

I created this tart cherry cocktail for Serious Eats and it's the perfect drink for Valentine's Day. Well, for any day, in my book, but I'm going with a theme here.

Head on over to my post at Serious Eats to learn how to shake up a tart cherry cocktail for you and your honey.

DIY almond milk and a bonus fruit smoothie recipe

Learn to make your own almond milk (it's easy!) -- plus how to use it in a delicious fruit smoothie.

I've always been a little freaked out by nut milk when I see it in the store. Is it nuts or is it milk? And since there's no milk in nuts, what the hell is it?

Plus nut mlk always seemed a little too non-mainstream for me. You know, like it's something only vegans or latte-ordering hipsters would drink. Right up there with soy milk.

But I'm happy to report I stand corrected. Nut milk rocks. Specifically, almond milk rocks. And is wicked easy to make, which you know is criterion number one for The Ninj's favorite recipes.

Other than planning ahead the night before, making a homemade quart of nut milk takes about three minutes. Not kidding. It's simple: soak the nuts, pulverize the crap out of them, mixed with water and a little natural sweetener, strain the whole thing and -- VOILA! -- nut milk.

Detox January 2014: dairy-free green smoothie

Dairy-free green fruit smoothie recipe that gives 3 to 4 servings of fruits and veggies in one glass -- and tastes great!

It's here! It's here!

Welcome to Detox January.

For new readers, let me explain so you stop freaking out. This is The Ninj's version of "detox", so you know it's not some scary-ass juice cleanse or eat-only-two-crackers-per-day diet plan.

(Please: I like to eat way too much for that crap.)

Mr. Ninj and I do Detox January every year as a way of starting the new year off right, after all the excesses of the ho-ho-holidays. And, frankly, because I'd rather eat a muffin top than have one around my waist.

Detox January is not some overly ambitious resolution that you know you won't be able to keep (new gym membership, anyone?) Instead, it's more of a short-term, mini resolution that you know you can achieve.

The rules are simple. For the entire month of January,

• Abstain from all alcohol (but if a recipe calls for a little bit, that's OK) -- we'll be drinking things like virgin marys and Cuban Buls rather than gimlets for cocktail hour
• Eat a bit healthier every day (I don't expect you to get crazy here -- we just try to eat more veggies than cookies and keep our recipes more Cooking Light than Julia Child) 
• Exercise more than you did in December 

And that's it. Simple, right?

You can do this -- and you'll be impressed at how quickly you will drop the holiday poundage and how much more inspired you'll be to eat better in 2014.

This year, I'm starting you off in Detox January with a nice healthy smoothie -- mainly because I personally am starting Detox January with oral surgery that will require me to drink my meals for a couple of days. (Yeah, lucky me.)

But I don't mind because I've got this awesome green smoothie -- even though it's dairy-free and made up entirely of fruits and veggies, you won't believe how YUMMY it is. (Remember: ninjas do not lie.) Not to mention that you can get three to four servings of fruits and veggies just by drinking one of these bad boys for breakfast! And I can guarantee that it will appeal to even a fussy eater: Mr. Ninj hates pretty much all green vegetables yet he loves this smoothie.

Why? Because you barely taste the spinach! Seriously. All you taste is the fruit.

Homemade eggnog

Make your holiday extra special by making your own homemade eggnog, with or without booze -- it's easy!

Welcome to eggnog week! Yes, week. I've got some baking-with-eggnog holiday recipes coming up later this week, but today we're starting with the basics.

Step away from the store-bought carton of eggnog: it's wicked easy to make your own. And yours will not be full of chemicals and gross-ass preservatives. So yay for you.

We love eggnog around Casa de Ninj. With or without booze.

(Can you believe I just said "without booze"? I barely recognize myself after that.)

The boozy version is fun and great but sometimes -- say, when you're baking or when you are 10 years old -- you need a straight-up, non-alcholic version.

There's much back-and-forth debate over cooked versus uncooked eggnog (it has to do with the eggs and the risk of salmonella) -- I'm not going to get into it. Just know that this eggnog recipe is a cooked one, so entirely safe for everyone in the family.

And it really is super easy, which you know if one of my primary recipe criteria.

Hard cider: how to make your own

Making hard cider is one of The Ninj's favorite fall activities. Now is the perfect time to get some fresh-pressed juice and get started. The process takes some time but the payoff is delicious! If you'd like to learn how to make your own hard cider, check out my three-part tutorial.

Be sure to read through all three installments before you begin. There are many helpful links throughout to the cider-making supplies that you will need.

• MAKING HARD CIDER, PART 1 (procuring juice, beginning the fermentation process)
• MAKING HARD CIDER, PART 2 (racking for clarity)
• MAKING HARD CIDER, PART 3 (bottling)