About the Author
Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are the award-winning authors of nineteen cookbooks. They are contributing editors to Eating Well and columnists for weightwatchers.com, and they contribute regularly to Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, the Washington Post, and other publications. When they're not teaching cooking on Holland America cruise ships, they live in rural Litchfield County, Connecticut, with a fairly sane collie named Dreydl.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Fig and Honey Smoothie
Makes 1 Drink
If you can't find fresh figs in your market, you can always order them through the mail from Harry & David (800-547-3033). Ask for Black Mission figs. They're dark purple and blend up into a beautiful lavender-colored drink.
4 large fresh figs (preferably Black Mission)
1/2 cup ice
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt (regular, low-fat, or non-fat)
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Cover and pulse on and off until the mixture starts to swirl evenly. Blend on high for 20 seconds, or until the drink is completely smooth.
Variations
Desert Fig Smoothie Omit the honey. Add 2 tablespoons tamarind syrup and 2 fresh, pitted dates before blending.
Fig and Apricot Smoothie Omit the honey. Add 2 tablespoons apricot jam and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon before blending.
Ginger Fig Smoothie Squeeze a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger in a garlic press to extract the juice. If the ginger is too large fit your garlic press, cut it into smaller pieces and repeat the process. Add ginger juice before blending.
Lemon Fig Smoothie Use the juice of 1 whole lemon. Use lemon yogurt instead of vanilla yogurt.
Mudslide
Makes 2 Drinks
A poolside classic that whips up in a jif. That's good, because once you start making them, your friends won't let you stop.
1 cup ice
1 cup chocolate ice cream
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua)
2 ounces Irish cream liqueur (such as Baileys)
Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Cover and pulse on and off until the mixture starts to swirl evenly. Blend on high for 20 seconds, or until the drink is completely smooth.
Variations
Cinnamon Mudslide Reduce the vodka to 1 ounce. Add 1 ounce cinnamon schnapps before blending.
Coffee Mudslide Omit the chocolate ice cream. Add 1 cup coffee ice cream before blending.
Double Irish Mudslide Omit the vodka. Add 2 ounces Irish whiskey before blending.
Oreo Mudslide Add 4 crumbled oreos before blending.
Triple Chocolate Mudslide Omit the coffee liqueur. Add 2 ounces dark creme de cacao and 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup before blending.
