Not Healthy: Tostones (Twice Fried Plantains) with Pink Sauce Recipe

Tostones are twice fried green plantains, often served with a pink dipping sauce. They come from Latin and Caribbean cuisines where plantains are a popular starch food. (Plantains are also commonly used in part of Africa.) I first discovered tostones (pronounced like toast-OH-nays) at a little Cuban restaurant that converted an old fast food location (likely a Tex Mex chain) into an unavoidably bright pink Cuban restaurant. (Cuco's Sandwich Shop in North Richland Hills, Texas) They came with a mysterious but delicious pink sauce that almost matched the exterior of the restaurant. Tostones are common side dishes or incorporated into appetizers where you might find french fries and other fried potatoes. The pink sauce often served with tostones is also a popular condiment in these cuisines. Fortunately both tostones and pink sauce are easily made at home, provided you have access to plantains.

Plantains: what are they and where do I get them?

Plantains are part of the same family as bananas with the important difference that they are more starchy than the bananas you eat as fruit. They higher starch content makes them fairly inedible uncooked but with cooking the combination of starch and sugar opens a lot of opportunities. Plantains are much larger than bananas, and sometimes referred to as cooking bananas, but otherwise look identical to their sweeter cousins.

Like bananas, the color of the plantain's peel will give you a sense of ripeness. For bananas most people have a particular degree of green to yellow color in which they prefer the texture and sweetness. A banana is not truly ripe until the peel begins turning black but by that point it is usually too mushy to enjoy (although ripe for baking). 

Plantains follow the same green to yellow to black path but they are used in different ways depending upon their ripeness. Green plantains are less sweet, firmer, and more starchy. These are used for savory dishes, like tostones. As they turn yellow they soften and become sweeter. At this point they are better for sweet dishes. Between green and yellow plantains there are a wide range of dishes prepared with virtually every cooking technique on the planet. 

Green plantains are becoming more widely available in major supermarkets but you may need to source a Latin or world market with a produce section to find fresh plantains. In Texas they are available in several major chains although finding them vibrantly green is not always easy. For tostones I usually have to take what I can get, which often means they are starting to ripen. Tostones can be made with ripe, yellow plantains but these are often sweet preparations with powdered sugar or a cream-based sauce. For the savory tostones in this recipe, the greener the better. You can't get them too green.

Tostones technique: preparing and double frying

Tostones are easy to make but require double frying to develop a crispy, french fry-like crunch and to press them into the disk-like shape.

Double frying is a technique commonly used with high moisture vegetables but can be used for almost anything fried in oil to develop a crispier, less soggy texture. That includes fried chicken, french fries and deep fried desserts. What happens is when you fry, say french fries, you develop that nice outer crispy shell but the inside is moist. That's because the crispy shell locks in the moisture inside. The shell isn't very thick but it's thick enough to keep the moisture inside. When french fries cool they become soggy because the moisture eventually makes its way to the surface and makes that shell damp and sad. If you fry a second time you pull more moisture out and develop a thicker fried exterior. You could cook french fries longer but that usually results in hard, burnt fries.

With tostones double frying serves the purpose of developing a nice crispy shell but it serves a second purpose. It partially cooks the plantain which is necessary to mash it into a disk. Green plantains pre-cooking are hard and dense. You have to cook them a little first to soften them. Then you can mash and finish cooking. You could cut the plantain into thinner slices but without mashing them they will still be too dense to enjoy eating. 

Smashing the plantain into tostones

There are two ways to smash the plantains after the first fry. One way is to use a tool made for that purpose: a tostonera. A tostonera (like this one) is a wood press that folds in half. I'm not a big fan of buying single use tools unless I really need them so I put other tools in the kitchen to work. After pulling the plantain out of the oil I let them rest on paper towels for a minute and then mash them by hand with the back of a wooden spatula. This is an easy process. 

To smash the plantain by hand, stand the plantain slice upright on a not sticky surface, like aluminum foil. The oil on the surface of the plantain should keep it from sticking and you can peel the smashed plantain off the foil. Take the back of a flat wood (or metal) spatula and put it on top of the plantain slice. Then press down and away so you press at an angle, like you're pushing a stack of poker chips into the pot. If you press directly down you'll create a dense middle with thick, puffy sides. Instead you want a flat, even disk. If some of the plantain breaks away just gently push it back together. It doesn't have to look perfect, like a fairly even thickness. You can also do this with a vegetable can, pressing in the same method.

Quick note on serving quantity

Just a few things to suggest before getting into the recipe. This recipe is for two plantains which is usually just a little more than my wife and I will eat as a side dish. A plantain is a little larger than a normal russet potato. So consider those volumes ahead of time. Sometimes I'll buy a third plantain so we have leftovers. They don't microwave well (they turn soggy) but you can bake them for a few minutes to crisp them back up. 

Tostones Recipe (Twice Fried Green Plantains)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Equipment:

• Kitchen utensils
• Cutting board and knife
• Stovetop
• Medium to large saucepan, dutch oven or other vessel for frying
• Tostonera or wooden spatula
• Aluminum foil
• Paper towels
• Tongs or other utensil to remove tostones from oil

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups canola oil (for frying)
• 2 green plantains
• Garlic salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium to medium-high heat until it is 350F. Hold at this temperature once reached.
2. Peel the plantains by cutting off the ends and cutting lengthwise down the peel. Peel off the peel and discard.
3. Cut the plantain horizontally into 1.5 inch thick slices.
4. Fry the plantains in the oil for 5-7 minutes, flipping over after 3 minutes, until the exterior is golden brown. 
5. Remove the plantains and place on paper towels to soak up excess oil (careful, the hot oil can burn)
6. Press the plantains flat as described above
7. Fry a second time for 5-7 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes, until golden brown
8. Remove from oil to clean paper towels to absorb excess oil
9. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt
10. Serve with pink sauce if desired

Pink sauce recipe

Pink sauce, also known as salsa rosada or salsa golf, is a popular condiment across South America and the Caribbean. It is seen often with seafood dishes but has a wide application. It's an easy recipe so there's almost no reason to buy it premade. It's equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise with a little garlic. 

Seriously.

Basic recipe is 1/4 cup each of ketchup and mayonnaise with an 1/8th teaspoon of garlic powder or an equivalent of fresh garlic. Fresh garlic is a nicer taste but the garlic powder gives better consistency so I opt for powder. Stir until an even pink color and let it rest. That's it--but there is an important time issue.

If you taste the pink sauce right away it tastes like ketchup and mayo. Not very good. It needs to rest for a while to blend into the flavor of pink sauce. A couple hours is good but overnight is better. For whatever reason, the flavor changes from not good to great. 

On the garlic I suggest going light at first. After the pink sauce rests you can taste and add a little more garlic if you want. It should be lightly garlicky. It's easier to integrate more garlic than take it away. If you let the sauce sit overnight you can taste in the morning and add more garlic if necessary. If you over-garlic, add more ketchup and mayo in equal portions. 

If you end up with excess sauce after eating the tostones the sauce will stay good in the fridge and works in sandwiches, french fries, vegetables, etc. 

Healthy: Cucumber Curry Recipe (Sri Lanka)

Cucumber is not something I would think to build a curry around; but I had a cucumber curry at a small Indian buffet in Oregon that I enjoyed. The fresh cucumber taste is a nice change of pace to the usual heavier onion or tomato base for Indian and related curries. There is a range of not well known curries from India and its neighbors that include fruit and other lighter vegetables. These include dried fruit curries and watermelon curries. But today we'll stick to the cucumber curry.

Admittedly, this is not the most visually stunning curry. The ingredients are all white and green and after cooking develops a yellowish color. It's vegetarian and all the vegetables turn soft, giving the curry a lumpy appearance. It reminds me of a tomatillo salsa with it's weird green-yellow color. I know this isn't selling this curry as a good choice but the taste is worth it. Some bright relishes could easily make this look nicer on a plate.

This particular recipe is fairly simple and doesn't require too many difficult-to-source ingredients. I'm sure there are more complicated recipes available for cucumber curry out there. You could also play around with adding other ingredients. I'm sure as I cook this I will explore additions and make those notes to this post. The basis for this recipe comes from this site which includes other Sri Lankan recipes.

Some quick notes about serving and recipe adjustments. Like all curries, this cucumber curry fares well with rice or various flatbreads like naan. This curry is somewhat spicy but easily adjusted. The correct chile pepper for this curry is the Indian green pepper. Here I've substituted a serrano because I can't easily find the Indian green peppers all the time. Some sources suggest substituting Thai chiles but I think serrano is a closer choice. You can add more or less to adjust for desired heat. The pepper adds some flavor, so I wouldn't completely eliminate it, but you can make this dish fairly heat-free if that's your thing. Some optional additions could include diced tomato, cilantro or curry leaves and cumin seeds. There's a lot of room to play.

Cucumber Curry Recipe

Servings: 6

Calories: Unknown

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Equipment:

• Knife and cutting board
• Large saucepan, dutch oven, wok 
• Small skillet or saucepan
• Spice grinder or mortar and pestle
• Food processor or blender (can use mortar and pestle instead)
• Stove top
• Kitchen utensils
• Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

• 3 garden cucumbers or 9 small Indian cucumbers
• 1 cup fresh milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 white onion
• 1 serrano pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/10 tsp dried tumeric
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick 
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp uncooked white rice

Directions:

1. Peel the cucumbers and slice lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick strips. Slice the onion and pepper.
2. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the fenugreek seeds and cinnamon stick. Toast the spices, stirring to keep from burning. Remove when the seeds begin popping. Set fenugreek seeds and cinnamon stick aside.
3. Repeat same process with mustard seeds. Keep separate from the other spices. 
4. Grind the fenugreek seeds and cinnamon stick in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
5. Heat saucepan over medium heat. Add the cucumbers, onion, pepper, water, tumeric, fenugreek seeds and cinnamon to the saucepan. Stir occasionally.
6. While this is cooking, mix the mustard seeds, garlic and white rice in a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle into a paste. If it is too dry, add a tsp of milk and continue mixing. Add more milk if necessary.
7. Once the cucumber is boiling add the milk and salt. Return to boil. Add the paste made in the last step and stir to blend. Again return to boil. Reduce heat to maintain simmer and cook for additional time until the vegetables are all soft. Serve.

Healthy: Vietnamese Tilapia with Tumeric & Dill

Tilapia isn't native to Vietnam but it is grown prominently in China (with growing health concerns about that). It's a cheap and earthy white fish that lends well to southeast Asian seasoning. (If you are concerned about tilapia then other earthy whitefish will work.) This recipe provides a light, healthy tilapia dish but packs a big flavor that can really help move along a clean diet when you feel like you've eaten all the lightly seasoned food you can eat. This tilapia recipe might seem daunting due to the number of ingredients involved but it's actually a really simple preparation.

Healthy Vietnamese Tilapia with Tumeric and Dill

Servings: 4

Calories: 370 (approx.) 

Prep time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Equipment:

• Knife and cutting board
• Mixing bowls
• Kitchen utensils
• Stove
• Large skillet

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 2 shallots
• 1 tbsp dried dill
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 24 oz tilapia fillets
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 3 yellow onions
• 1/2 cup fresh dill
• 4 green onions
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
• 2 lemons

Directions:

1. Cut lemons into 8 wedges. Slice shallots. Grate ginger. Cut onions into vertical slices (half ring). Coarsely chop dill. Cut green onions into two inch pieces.
2. Combine shallot, dried dill, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, sesame oil, tumeric, pepper in bowl and whisk together in mixing bowl.
3. Add to fish and coat. 
4. Chill in fridge for 2 hours.
5. Heat large skillet over high heat. Spray with cooking spray.
6. Remove fish from marinade and discard marinade.
7. Coat fish in peanut oil.
8. Add to skillet half of the fresh dill, yellow onion and green onion and stir fry 3 minutes.
9. Add soy sauce and sugar and fry for another 1 minute.
10. Remove contents of skillet and add to plates (or set aside in dish). 
11. Add fish to pan and cook 3 minutes.
12. Flip fish and cook 1 minute or until done. Place fish on dish over onion mix. If did not cook all fish at first repeat until all fish cooked.
13. Garnish with remaining dill and peanuts. Serve with lemon wedges.

Not Healthy: BBQ Sauce with Canadian Whiskey

In my early twenties I did a fair amount of cheap drinking, like most college students, which often resulted in buying the biggest bottles of the cheapest liquor you could tolerate drinking. Canadian whiskey was a common purchase because it was cheap and easily mixed with cola. For a special occasion Crown was the purchase but often the more economical approach was something like Seagram's 7. (Canadian whiskey has a older reputation as a solid rye-based whiskey but today the Canadian whiskey market is dominated by cheap blended whiskeys.) Not too long ago I found a fairly full handle of Seagram's 7 in the back of the liquor cabinet. It's still good so I didn't want to toss it but at the same time I can't see myself drinking it, even in a state of reminiscence. 

So I scoured the internet and found a few BBQ sauce recipes using this type of whiskey. This recipe is a cobbling together of a few recipes. I tend to use this recipe the most with chicken but it is a decent all purpose sauce. I usually adjust the recipe a little based upon what I am grilling or smoking. A little more mustard for chicken while I cut back the mustard and go sweeter for pork. It's easy to adjust to taste while reducing the sauce to a thicker consistency using the ingredients already used in the recipe. Increase the ketchup for a more tomato-y sauce. Increase the mustard for more mustard flavor/balanced tomato/less sweet. Increase the maple syrup for greater sweetness. Canadian whiskey is a milder flavor than bourbon so if you are thinking this recipe will have a big whiskey flavor then you'll be disappointed. You could use bourbon in this recipe if you want (I would cut back on the amount of whiskey) but I'm really just looking for some of the grain and caramel flavor from the whiskey in this rendition.

Not Healthy: BBQ Sauce with Canadian Whiskey

Servings: Varies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20-30 minutes

Equipment:

• Cutting board and knife
• Measuring spoons and cups
• Medium saucepan
• Stove
• Kitchen utensils

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil (or other cooking oil)
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 8 oz can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup mustard
• 1 cup Canadian whiskey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the saucepan to medium heat. Meanwhile, mince garlic and dice 1/2 cup of onion (you do not need the rest of the onion for this recipe). 
2. Combine onion and olive oil in pan and cook until soft (3-4 minutes). Add garlic and cook additional thirty seconds.
3. Mix in the tomato paste, ketchup, mustard, whiskey, maple syrup, vinegar, chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Mix to a consistent texture. Reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Sauce will reduce as it simmers. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching or splattering. 
5. Continue to reduce to desired consistency (thinner for a marinade, thicker for a sauce). Taste and adjust if necessary. If adding wet ingredients (anything from ketchup to vinegar on the list) you may need to allow for additional simmering to return to the right consistency. If the sauce is too thick add small amounts of water and mix until it thins out to the desired consistency.

Not Healthy: Lamb Loin Chops with Goat Cheese Sauce Recipe

This lamb chop recipe is far easier than the dish appears. Lamb chops are sometimes complicated or requires absolute precision to cook to the right temperature. This isn't one of those recipes. This lamb chop recipe is not only easy and delicious but fairly quick to prepare. It relies upon a goat cheese sauce that adds a nice tangy quality to the meat while not overwhelming with a contrasting flavor. (This is the original recipe mine is based upon, if you care.) This lamb chop recipe pairs well with a side of root vegetables, mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. Anything with an earthy flavor will contrast the tangy goat cheese and sweeter lamb meat. I would stay away from a puree simply because it lacks a meaningful texture difference from the goat cheese sauce.

A note about buying lamb chops

Unfortunately lamb is not always an easy meat to find and unless you have a local butcher who offers a wide range of meat you may be limited in your selection of lamb cuts. This recipe calls for lamb loin cuts. These are the among the easiest cuts to find (thankfully) although you may have a hard time figuring out from your supermarket's labeling which you are holding. Often when people think about lamb chops they think about the rack of lamb or individual lamb chops served on menus such as these pictures below. These are actually the same cuts of meat although in the bottom picture the bone has been more carefully exposed and the ribs have been separately cut for a nicer presentation. 

Rack of lamb

Lamb rib chops

Rack picture from Wikipedia commons; Chop picture from Outback Steakhouse.

Both of these cuts are rib cuts and only one type of lamb chops. These are sometimes available at supermarkets although they are typically quite expensive. You do not want these lamb chops for this recipe. You could use this cut but it's a more expensive cut than you need for this recipe.

Instead you want lamb loin chops. These are not rib cuts they are, obviously, from the loin. They may be found bone in or boneless. You likely have just one choice at the grocery store. Feel free to buy either. Loin chops are lean and cook quickly even with a bone. I prefer the bone-in cuts that look similar to a t-bone steak (but thicker and smaller) and the leftover bones make a great lamb stock (that you can use to make lamb osso bucco) to help stretch the value of the purchase. I couldn't find good usable pictures of either online but they are easy to distinguish from other cuts. Boneless loin cuts are blocky, boneless cuts that look similar to beef fillet mignon cuts while bone-in are roughly the same size but have a prominent T shape bone in the middle.

You could use other cuts of lamb in this dish but due to the quick cooking time you would need to select a lean and thin cut like well-butchered steaks from a roast. I don't have a suggestion that I know for sure works but if you are cruising a supermarket aisle you are probably buying something you will have to butcher yourself to get the right cuts. I would just hunt for loin chops and be prepared to make a lamb stock. Lamb stock isn't easy to find so making it yourself is pretty much your only option.

Lamb Loin Chops with Goat Cheese Sauce Recipe

Servings: 2-4 (four people assuming two chops per person)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Equipment:

• Oven (with broiler)
• Small baking pan, dutch oven or skillet that can survive broiling
• Stove
• Medium or large skillet (or dutch oven--you only need one)
• Kitchen utensils, measuring spoons and cups
• Small mixing bowl (omit if using a baking pan as well as a skillet)
• Foil
• Tongs (optional)

Ingredients:

• 8 bone-in lamb loin chops
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 tsp fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried rosemary)
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or lamb broth if you have it)
• 3 oz. goat cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to broil and set rack near broiler but low enough that you can get the lamb under the broiler. Chop rosemary if using fresh. Unpackage lamb and trim if necessary.
2. Heat skillet (or dutch oven) on stove over high heat. 
3. Once skillet is hot add salt to skillet.
4. Immediately after place lamb loin chops in the skillet. Sear for 2-3 minutes.
5. Use tongs or spatula to turn lamb. Sprinkle black pepper and half of rosemary on lamb. Sear for another 2 minutes. 
6. Remove from the stove. If you are using a broil-safe skillet or dutch oven transfer the whole thing to the oven. Otherwise transfer lamb to baking pan and place in oven. Keep the skillet without cleaning it.
7. Broil lamb 3 minutes. Turn lamb over and broil another 3 minutes.
8. Return stove to medium heat. If you used the same skillet or dutch oven through the recipe return it to the stove. Take out the lamb and place in a mixing bowl and cover. If you transferred to a baking pan for broiling then cover the pan with foil and return the skillet to the stove.
9. Deglaze the skillet or dutch oven with the white wine. Gently scrape at the bottom of the skillet or dutch oven to lift up any brown bits. It's okay if the lamb is getting turned in this process but try not to beat up the meat too much.
10. Add broth and remaining rosemary. 
11. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium low.
12. Simmer on the stove until the liquid reduces by 1/3. You should have approximately 3/4 cup of liquid.
13. Add goat cheese and mix into liquid until an even consistency is reached.
14. Serve lamb chops with sauce drizzled over. Bones can and should be saved from the meal to make stock.

Healthy: Grilled Pineapple Slices

If you've gone through the trouble of firing up the grill you might as well make a whole meal of it and this dessert recipe gives you a fairly healthy way to do it. It's just pineapple slices with a little oil and sugar to help develop some nice caramelization but if you wanted to you could just cook the pineapple slices plain and keep it healthier. You could go the other direction and serve these pineapple slices over shortbread or ice cream.

Healthy Grilled Pineapple Slices

Serves: 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes

Equipment:

• Grill or grill pan
• Knife and cutting board (optional pineapple slicer)
• Mixing bowl and whisk
• Tongs
• Measuring spoons
• Brush (optional)

 Ingredients:

• 1 pineapple
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp ground cinammon

Directions:

1. Heat grill or grill pan as appropriate. 
2. Prepare pineapple. Cut off top and bottom then slice off the exterior completely. Slice pineapple into 1/2 inch thick slices.
3. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and whisk together to form marinade.
4. Brush or rub marinade on pineapple slices.
5. Place pineapple slices on grill and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. Should be softer than raw pineapple but not quite falling apart.
6. Serve. 

Note: If you sliced the pineapple straight across and left the core be mindful that the innermost portion of the slices may be too hard or tough to eat. A pineapple slicer will remove the core but if you only use a knife you can either cut the core out yourself or let your diners know not to eat the hard core.

Not Healthy: Egg Beaters Hollandaise Sauce

I really enjoy eggs benedict, which is a mostly healthy breakfast made really unhealthy with the addition of hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is basically egg yolks, lemon juice and butter blended smooth and heated just enough to warm it. It can be tricky because it has a habit of breaking if it isn't blended well enough or allowed to get too hot. This recipe is probably the easiest recipe I've come across. It uses egg beaters (or other egg substitutes) which means it's a lot of egg whites rather than pure egg yolk. It has the benefit of not breaking as easily but it's not quite as rich in flavor or thick as a proper hollandaise. Nevertheless, it's very easy to make--almost foolproof--and useful for those of us who keep egg beaters in the house.

The key technique here is properly mixing hot butter (or margarine) into the egg/lemon mixture to a smooth consistency. Often you want to use a blender or food processor but if you have neither or don't want to deal with cleaning it then you can certainly use a mixing bowl and small whisk. You just need to really work to blend the ingredients to a smooth emulsion.

If you finish the hollandaise too quickly you can keep it warm on a double boiler on the stove for up to ten minutes. It's easiest to make this while meat is resting (if serving on meat) or while your eggs are cooking for a breakfast dish.

Egg Beaters Hollandaise Sauce

Servings: ?? (makes one cup)
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 1 minute

Equipment:

• Mixing bowls
• Kitchen utensils
• Microwave and small microwave-safe bowl (or alternatively small saucepan on stove)
• Blender, food processor or whisk

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp egg beaters
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Black pepper
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Directions:

1. Blend together egg beaters, lemon juice and dash of black pepper until smooth. 
2. Melt butter or margarine until it is liquid and hot but before it separates (test every fifteen seconds in the microwave). While doing this continue to blend the egg beater mixture to keep smooth.
3. Pour in melted butter or margarine slowly and continue to blend until smooth.