Very Cherry Berry Smoothie
May 28, 2012
Very Cherry Berry Smoothie (recipe by “Oishii!”)
My notes: Here’s another tasty smoothie, this time all in red and named by my partner David, with red tart cherry juice, strawberries, and raspberries.
I’ve noticed over the past few years that cherry juice is gaining in popularity. I’m a big fan of fresh tart cherries (such as Montmorency), but they have a very short growing season, available only for a few weeks around the end of June and beginning of July in the Midwest. I’m happy to see that our producers are marketing them not only fresh and dried, but also more often in juiced and in concentrated forms as well.
Ingredients
makes 2 servings
- 2 cups (9 ounces) frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) frozen raspberries
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt (I like Dannon brand)
- 1 cup 100% red tart cherry juice (Trader Joe’s brand is great or see below for substitute)
- 2 tablespoons honey
Preparation
Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Divide between two glasses.
Prep Tip: Purchase fresh fruit when it is on sale, clean, and freeze it in single layers in plastic freezer bags.
Ingredient Note: A cheaper alternative to 100% red tart cherry juice is to use canned frozen cherry juice. Old Orchard makes delicious 100% fruit juice blends such as cherry pomegranate. You can skip the honey if you use these already sweet juices.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I develop in my test kitchen. My inspiration comes from cooking magazines (Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, Food & Wine), cookbooks, blogs, online food communities such as Chowhound.com, popular restaurants, tv shows, friends, and family.
Now it’s your turn. Do you love cherries or do you have any great ideas for smoothies? We would love to hear from you if you enjoyed this post. -Michael
Like this:
Purple Berry Smoothie
January 31, 2012
Purple Berry Smoothie (recipe adapted from “Smoothies: 50 Recipes for High-Energy Refreshment,” by Mary Corpening Barber, Sara Corpening, and Lori Lynn Narlock)
My notes: Last month I was on a smoothie kick, nourishing my David back to health. You could call this one the “Get Well David Smoothie.” It is my favorite smoothie of all time. I love all the berries, which are rich in antioxidants, combined with the grape juice and vanilla yogurt. It’s smoothie perfection–well that is if you don’t mind a few seeds. Another thing I love about this drink is that I can find ingredients for it year round. When fresh berries are not available, they can be easily purchased in the frozen section of any of my grocery stores.
Special thanks to our friend Charissa who sent granola bars (pictured next to the smoothie) as part of a care package for David. When somebody loses his appetite and must take food with medicine at all hours of the day, these kinds of “super foods” are lifelines.
Ingredients
makes 2 servings
- 1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) frozen blueberries
- 1 cup (4 ounces) frozen blackberries
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt (I like Dannon brand)
- 1 1/4 cups grape juice (100% fruit juice)
Preparation
Process all ingredients in a blender. Divide between two glasses.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I develop in my test kitchen. My inspiration comes from cooking magazines (Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, Food & Wine), cookbooks, blogs, online food communities such as Chowhound.com, popular restaurants, tv shows, friends, and family.
Now it’s your turn. Do you make smoothies? Share a link to your favorite recipe in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you if you enjoyed this post. -Michael
Like this:
Fresh Peach Iced Tea
August 11, 2010
My notes: I used to love Snapple peach iced tea. Hoping to create my own peach flavored iced tea, I searched high and low for a recipe, and came across a few that use peach nectar. That was a good start. Then, I found this great idea from a blog called Of Cabbages & King Cakes for a simple syrup infused with fresh peaches. Now we’re talking! This a great way to make use of peaches when they are in season. The smooth taste of the tea is a revelation.
Fresh Peach Iced tea (recipe adapted from Of Cabbages & King Cakes)
Ingredients
makes about 2 cups of syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3 medium-sized peaches
- Lipton tea, prepared according to package directions
Preparation
Peel and finely dice peaches. Put fruit and juices into a medium sized bowl.
Add sugar and water to a medium saucepan and stir. Bring to a boil for 30 seconds to a minute until liquid is clear.
Pour hot syrup over peaches in bowl, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes or more. Drain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a container. Discard peaches or save for another use. Chill syrup in the refrigerator.
Add 4 tablespoons syrup per cup of tea (or more or less to taste) and garnish with fresh peaches. Adapted from Of Cabbages & King Cakes.
What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to consider: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com
If you enjoyed this post, we would love to hear from you! Your feedback in the comments section below is essential to the success of this blog. -Michael
Michael’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
June 7, 2010
Michael’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
My notes: Fresh squeezed lemonade is one of my favorite summertime treats. It’s so easy to make that you really don’t need a recipe. Get a bag of lemons–10 or so. I find that using a vintage style reamer (pictured below) is the easiest way to juice them. My rule of thumb is to mix equal parts lemon juice to sugar, and add water and ice. Keep in mind that the ice will dilute the lemonade somewhat.
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 cups water
- ice
Preparation
Mix lemon juice and sugar together. The sugar will dissolve somewhat. Add the juice to a pitcher with water and stir well. Add ice.
My rating: ooo (= very oishii)
“Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious, and I rate recipes on a four o(ishii) system:
oooo (= favorite)
ooo (= very oishii)
oo (= oishii)
o (= not so oishii)
zero o’s (= why bother)
