Yesterday I cleared out my desk, closed the computer, said goodbye to my colleagues and walked away from my job as a magazine art director. I have worked with magazines for the past 11 years and always loved my job, so as I wrote earlier, this wasn’t exactly an easy decision. But I truly believe that it is good and challenging to step outside your comfort zone every now and then. Remind yourself that you can always learn new things, change your habits and walk in new directions.
On Monday we will start this new life. I have no idea where it leads us, but I can promise you one thing – this blog and our apps will get more attention and a lot more love in the future. We can’t hardly wait to let you in on all the exciting projects that we have planned. But let’s take one thing at the time, today we just want to start out smooooth-ie.
If you have been following us for a while, you probably know that we keep a few different plant milks on rotation in our home. Almond milk, oat milk, rice milk and GMO-free soy milk are frequent visitors in our fridge. Today we wanted to introduce another one – open sesame!
Sesame milk is the winner in the strong-bone-milk debate. With eight times as much calcium than cow milk! Sesame seeds are unfortunately also quite high in phytic acid, which can lower the mineral absorption. But you solve that problem by soaking them. Unhulled sesame seeds contain the highest amount of calcium, but are a bit too bitter for a milk or cream recipe, so aim for a combination of hulled and unhulled sesame seeds to get the fully nutritional value.
Here we are blabbing on about sesame milk, when we are actually using sesame cream in this recipe. It’s the same thing but with less water. We have blended it with orange and vanilla into a thick and silky smoothie that we pour over some mashed raspberries. The berries are mainly there because they make the whole thing look much prettier, but they also add a fresh twist in flavor. Cheers!
Creamy Sesame & Orange Smoothie
Serves 4
1 cup (240 ml) sesame seeds (3/4 hulled and 1/4 unhulled), soaked for 6-8 hours
2 cups (480 ml) water
1 steel sieve (mesh strainer) for straining
2 large oranges, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
1 tsp ground cinnamon + extra for serving
8 fresh soft dates, pitted (if using dried, soak first)
1 pinch of sea salt
1 cup (240 ml) raspberries (thawed frozen are fine)
In the evening (or in the morning), place the sesame seeds and water in a jar and let soak for 6-8 hours. Drain the excess water and place sesame seeds and the 2 cups fresh water in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the sesame mixture through a steel sieve (the cream is too thick to run through a nut milk bag). Rinse the blender. Place the strained cream back in the blender and add oranges, cinnamon, dates and sea salt. Blend until smooth and thick. Refrigerate until chilled (or add 2-3 ice cubes when you are blending it). Mash the raspberries and divide them equally between 4 glasses. Carefully pour the smoothie over the raspberries, dust with cinnamon and enjoy.
Keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Tip: For a quick calcium boost, add a couple of spoonfuls tahini or pre-soaked unhulled sesame seeds to your regular smoothie recipe (and skip the straining).
Tip: If you just want to make sesame milk, just double the water, add a pinch of sea salt and vanilla and strain through a nut milk bag.
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