Great Summer Drinks

I don’t know how it is for all my foodie friends out there, but come summer, I crave tall, cool icy quenching drinks – and healthy interesting salads.  Heavy food just doesn’t cut it! Summertime used to mean throwing Tahiti parties with my son in the back yard – good music, fun books on the lounge chairs, a kid’s wading pool, a sprinkler, water guns, fun drinks, a great salad, a relaxed head space and a handful of silly playfulness. I return each summer like a salmon swimming upstream against the passing of time to partake of tasty tumblers, full of those sweet reminiscences. My blender is my best friend in this heat.

Come April-May, I switch from hot to ice coffee, and often take a cupful of ice, equal portions of water and  low- fat-milk, two sweeteners, a teaspoon of my favorite coffee… blend it all and NIRVANA! There are some really cool sugar free, fat free, kosher syrups and creamers available out there now. Our favorite pick is DaVinci Gourmet® (Khof-K certification) which has dozens of sugar free flavors-all the standards plus exciting gourmet ones like Dulce de Leche, English Toffee, Irish Crème, KAHLUA® Flavored Sugar Free Syrup, Toasted Marshmallow and a host of fruity flavors as well.  A 750 mL bottle runs $7.99.  You can order directly from their site http://www.davincigourmet.com/products/sugar_free_flavored_syrups/. The possibilities are all tasty, endless and delightfully guilt free.  Of course they also have all the classic and natural flavored syrups flavors.  Oh, don’t miss their gourmet dessert syrups all at surprisingly affordable prices. A little goes a long way. I’m going to try the Chai tea, sugar free concentrate, I spotted on their web site.  Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found any cholov Yisroel low fat sugar free creamers, let us know if you find any on the kosher market scene.

For smoothies I like making my own these days. Sunflower Café on Kings Highway (Brooklyn), corner of13th Street, makes a really good smoothie – they call them fruit frappes; they offer flavors like melon, peach, strawberry, kiwi, apple, mango and banana, or you can ask for two flavors mixed (with milk or without).  They’re delicious, tall but pricey at $6 a glass. I like buying my own fresh fruit and blending up my own creative fresh combos. When day turns to night, throw in some rum, pineapple juice, a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk, some strawberries and voila! instant yumminess with that special chill factor.  One of the reasons I like making it at home is for the sure savings plus I know the approximate calories Ive put in.

Check out www.smoothieweb.com, http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/smoothies,www.allrecipes.com/Recipes/Drinks/Smoothies/Main.aspx, or www.flowercarole.com/.  Obviously you’ll have to make kosher substitutions where necessary.

Strawberry Banana Supreme Smoothie

It is worth trying to find strawberry nectar to make this smoothie hum. This is a very popular smoothie as it contains strawberry flavors and banana.

Ingredients

• 1 cup strawberry nectar or apple juice
• 1 cup milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup strawberry yogurt

Directions

Pour all liquid ingredients into the blender. Add all frozen ingredients. Blend at MIX setting for 30 seconds then blend at SMOOTH setting until smooth. While the machine is running, move the stir stick around counter-clockwise to aid mixing. Serve immediately.

Yield

Each recipe serves 3-5.

Sugar-Free Orange Guilt Free-ze Milkshake

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon DaVinci Gourmet Raspberry Sugar Free Syrup
• 1 scoop orange sorbet
• 1 scoop raspberry sorbet
• 1 scoop vanilla non-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt
• 1 cup cold non-fat (skim) milk

Directions

Combine the milk, syrup and two scoops sorbet, in a blender. Blend until thick and creamy and pour into a glass. Top with remaining frozen yogurt or ice cream.

Yield

one 16-ounce serving

Send in your favorite smoothie recipes.
The sender of the best tasting, thirst quenching recipe will receive our Summer Smoothie Kit.

SYR