Spiked Watermelon Salad

From Epicurious

Use red or yellow watermelon (or both) for this summery dessert, and pair it with the best store-bought brownies you can find.

ingredients

1 8-pound watermelon, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 16 cups)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vodka
6 tablespoons crème de cassis
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
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preparation

Place watermelon in large bowl. Whisk fresh lemon juice and sugar in medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Whisk in vodka and crème de cassis. Season mixture to taste with salt. Pour mixture over watermelon. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. Sprinkle with chopped fresh mint and serve.

Mini Polenta Pizzas (Gluten and Dairy Free)

These little mini pizzas are the result of some creative thinking to feed my two boys who don't eat gluten or dairy food (let that sink in for a second, no ice cream, cheese or regular bread). Anyway, we've learned some good meals that are not only pretty good for them, they taste good and aren't even that hard to make.

Tonight's dinner was Mini Polenta Pizzas.
Ingredients:
1 Polenta "chub" sliced into as thin discs as possible without the polenta crumbling
Marinara sauce
salami cut into eighths or sliced hot dogs pan fried to look like mini pepperoni
cooked white rice
dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

I baked the polenta slices on a lightly greased half sheet in the over at 350 degrees for close a half hour. The package says 20 minutes but that wasn't working for me. Use your judgement though, if the slices are thin they'll cook faster and scorch faster too.
Heat up the marinara (I used the Tomato & Basil Marinara from Trader Joe's) and added the oregano after rubbing it into your hand and using a mortar and pestle to break it up. The rice can be room temp or warmer, cold doesn't work.
Assembly is pretty straight forward.
Polenta slice, top with marinara, a layer of rice (playing the part of the cheese here), top with salami or hot dog pepperoni pieces.
A little salt and serve.
My finicky son wolfed down two and then two more and my not so finicky son ate a total of five and a half mini pizzas.

Avocado Madness!

Almost shamelessly lifted from the Santa Cruz Patch...

1. Mango Smoothie with Avocado:

It's like a mango lassi...kind of. Blend one cup of cold milk, one ripe mango (peeled), honey (as much as you want), and one half to one whole avocado, depending on how much avocado you can handle. Good served on a hot day.

2. Creamy Avocado Milk Shake

The avocado milk shake is insanely delicious for the first sips but it is extremely rich. In Indonesia, it's commonly made with a shot of espresso. Check out an interesting read on the secret dessert life of avocados in Indonesia, found on "The Traveler's Lunch Box" blog. 

• 1 ripe Haas (dark-skinned) avocado, peeled and pitted
• 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (you can find organic sweetened condensed milk at Trader Joe's)
• 1 cup cold milk, more or less depending on thickness desired
• a few drops orange extract, or some vanilla, rum or coffee (optional)
• Crushed ice and additional sweetened condensed milk for serving

Blend all of the ingredients, minus the ice. You can throw a few ice cubes into the blender if you want a more frothy consistency. Pour over the ice cubes for a creamy dessert.

3. Coconut Avocado Ice Cream

The two Lazy Gourmets are in on the avocado dessert possibilities too. Here is a recipe for coconut avocado ice cream, adapted from Sunset Magazine. You need an ice cream maker for this one. Click HERE to read more about it.

• 2 ripe, medium avocados, chilled
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

In a blender or food processor, blend avocado flesh, sugar, condensed milk and coconut milk until smooth. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

4. Avocado Pie

There are a million recipes out there for avocado pies, some calling for cream cheese, some just sweet and condensed milk. Here is one that calls for cream cheese and looks pretty appetizing for a green dessert.

5. Avocado Chocolate Mousse

This recipe is courtesy of avocado.org, and was contributed by Adrian Halmagean.

• 1 ripe, Fresh California Avocado, halved, peeled and seeded
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• ½ cup agave syrup
• ¼ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cupsliced strawberries

1. Chop the avocado into a few medium-sized pieces and put it in a food processor
2. Add the cocoa powder, vanilla, agave syrup and coconut milk to the food processor and blend on high for about thirty seconds, or until mousse reaches desired consistency
3. Serve it chilled with fresh sliced strawberries.