by Chrysa Smith
Thirsty?
I bet. At some point this summer, most everyone in the US has turned up the AC, turned off their oven and kept the supply of ice tea, lemonade and H2O flowing.
But what if you want something more? A special treat that goes beyond ice cream, water ice, sorbet or gelato? Of course, you could buy those frozen drink or margarita machines, but let’s face it, you don’t need another electronic chachka on your counter, do you? And let’s face it, margarita’s, pina colada’s, daquiris aren’t exactly low in calorie—especially with the alcohol (which by the way, doesn’t cool you down) What if you’d like to drink something sweet and delicious, without breaking the calorie barrier?
Well, I may have just the recipes for you. Your secret ingredient? A good blender.
One of my favorites is a spin on those icy coffee drinks. While I’m a tea drinker, I do enjoy this low calorie treat. All you need is your blender, ice, some instant espresso, milk and chocolate syrup. Fill your blender with ice: the more ice, the lighter in calories. Add a small amount of non-fat milk (maybe 1/4 cup or to taste), a teaspoon of espresso,a squirt or two (or two tbsp or to taste) of chocolate syrup (canned Hershey’s works just fine) and let the blender do its magic. You’ll have a frothy, frozen coffee drink that’s less calories than those whole milk, heavy chocolate varieties. Again, more ice, less calories—and blended ice seems to offer that added thickness or frothiness without the calories. You might also skip the milk and chocolate syrup and go for a little ice cream or gelato—especially the low fat varieties.
For you fruit nuts, start with some ice (chipped ice is even easier), throw in some hulled strawberries and a packet or two of sugar (only 30 calories each or a sugar substitute) and let the blender spin. Adjust the sugar to taste, depending upon the tartness of the strawberries and you have a tasty, low calorie drink. For variety, try blueberries, mango, cherries or experiment with your own favorite fruits.
The trendy foodies even put together funky combos like Tomato Cucumber, which I suppose, could be served in place of gazpacho–or Coconut Curry, which I must say, doesn’t sound appealing to me in the slightest—-but check out the recipes for these and more at: www.today.com under the sidebar: bites.