1 + 1 = MAGIC

I have come upon a spectacular and wondrous thing. With practically zero effort, you can make these cookies and change your life forever! If you have any kind of food allergy or intolerance or issue, you can eat these cookies. If all you have is 20 minutes, you can have these cookies. If you need a quick breakfast or lovely dessert with your bag lunch, then please go make these cookies. If you don't believe that something amazing can be made with a mere TWO INGREDIENTS, then, well, you need to change your way of thinking right away! Please examine the following:

Miracle Cookies

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 C oats (regular or quick)

Mix bananas and oats. 

At this point, you can either keep the dough this way (delicious) or add things* (even more delicious). 

Scoop and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. (Can be placed close to each other -- they don't expand.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until you see whisps of golden brown on the surface.

___________________ THAT'S ALL!!! ___________________

*For my first-ever batch, I added a handful of walnuts, a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips, some shredded coconut, and some sunflower seeds. Anything that you'd add to a regular bowl of oatmeal will be perfect. Think cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, candied ginger, dried cranberries or any dried fruit, apple bits, any sort of nut, maple syrup...you get it.

Also, see that note about parchment? Oatmeal is like glue, so use parchment or a well-oiled pan unless you want to see your cookie sheet into the garbage can when you're done with this project!

You can also use pumpkin puree in place of the banana, which is amazing, but I prefer the pumpkin ones with chocolate or coconut thrown in, since it's not nearly as naturally sweet as the banana is.

These are the very best right out of the oven, but they are also very nice several days later. I keep mine in the fridge, but I'd imagine they could exist on the counter, too.

I would like to thank the dear and lovely folks over at The Burlap Bag in Austin, Texas for this recipe.  They are the true geniuses. Thanks, guys.

Electric Avenue

Hold still!
No, get up!
Wait!

First of all, make your grocery list.
Write down these things:
bottle of vodka
arugula
agave nectar
one lemon

Now go to the grocery store.

Buy the things on your list.

Return home.

Quick! Get out some tools!
+something to muddle with (perhaps a wooden pestle?)
+something to muddle in (perhaps a small bowl?)
+a cocktail shaker
+a glass to drink out of
+a very fine mesh sieve

The time has now come. You're going to make an epic new cocktail. It's going to freak you out and make you confused and happy and amazed.

I encountered the recipe for a similar drink in the new issue of Bon Appetit. In the magazine, it's called the Roquette, named for the French word for arugula. Across the pond in the UK (and also in some other fancy places like Australia, I believe), arugula is called rocket, which is obviously a much cooler name for it. The recipe calls for Hendrick's Gin, lime juice, and dark agave nectar. I was plumb out of Hendrick's (or so I thought -- it was actually hiding behind the bread-and-nuts mountain on my counter), so I opted for vodka. I had a very moldy lime available, but I did have a lemon, which seemed more appealing. I had light, not dark, agave. But, the important part is that I had arugula, which is how this drink gets its shockingly electric green color. So I made do, and it was nothing short of a miracle.

But let's cut to the chase, shall we? You're thirsty!

Make this thing:

The Altered Roquette
Muddle:
+the juice of a wedge of lemon and
+a handful of washed arugula
for about a minute. Bash it a lot! You'll end up with greenish juice and arugula veins.

Into a shaker:
+ice
+the arugula mess
+vodka (Be generous! You're worth it!)
+agave nectar to taste (start with about a tablespoon)

Shake it up. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve so that all of the funky bits stay out of the drink. Purity! We're going for purity!

Your drink should be a little sweet from the agave, a little peppery from the arugula, and you should just barely taste the lemon. The arugula will be the star in this drink. You honestly might not even taste the liquor very much. It will taste like a garden in the best possible way.

Your drink will be startlingly bright green. You will think somebody sneaked in some green dye, but they didn't. You will think the Incredible Hulk melted in your cup, but no! It's just the byproduct of your own brilliance. And to think that you never imagined liquor and vegetables in the same place (deliciously). And that, I think, deserves a toast. You know, to your health.

Chin chin!