Lemon-Honey Tea

We like to have a steaming hot cup of this tea every now and then after dinner. It's also a great winter warmer.

Brew a cup or two of your favorite tea. I like the Lipton Yellow Label Loose Tea. Add some honey and a couple of good squeezes of lemon. Add a touch of sugar if required. Enjoy hot or cold.

Strawberry and Apricot Shake

Blend together strawberries, a handful of apricots, honey, milk, yogurt, and a splash of vanilla extract for flavor. Chill. Serve.

I'm sending this across to the Happy Cook for her event, Strawberry Feast.

Mixed Berry Shake

Ingredients:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Milk

Honey

Vanilla extract

Blend everything together. Serve cold.

Grape Smoothie

There’s really no need for a recipe for this one!
I just threw a whole bunch of grapes into my blender along with some milk, yogurt, a tiny bit of honey and some vanilla essence.
Blend everything together until smooth and frothy. Pour into your favorite glass and drink!

While the smoothie may not be much to look at, it certainly is simple, filling and tasty.
I saw this on one of my favorite blogs- Vaishali’s Happy Burp. Sadly, her blog has not been showing any signs of life for almost a year now.

Off this goes to Sig who is hosting the March edition of Monthly Blog Patrol.

Fruity Tofu Smoothie

Ever since WBB was announced by dear Rajitha, I wanted to make something which I had never tried before, with tofu. This has always been an ingredient that I have used either for making the very popular tofu scramble or the usual Indo-Chinese fare. This time around, I wanted to give tofu a breakfast-y makeover for obvious reasons. ;-)

I adapted this recipe that I saw on the Nasoya website. This makes a very filling and delicious protein-rich drink that’s ready in minutes.

Ingredients:
8 oz silken tofu, drained (I used Nasoya)
1 ½ cup frozen strawberries
1 ripe banana
1 cup orange juice
½ cup milk
3-4 Tbsp honey


Method:
Throw all the ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth. Chill and enjoy!

Makes 3 servings.

Tofu by itself has very little flavor and is almost bland. It blended really well (flavor- wise) with the fruits and took on the fruity taste. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it could not be tasted at all in the smoothie. What a great way to sneak some protein into your diet!


This recipe goes to Rajitha for Weekend Breakfast Blogging with soy. I am also sending the picture to Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi for Click: Liquid.

A Ravioli and a Smoothie

Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter

This was something I had seen recently on Giada's Everyday Italian on the Food Network. I just love her recipes for their simplicity. A number of her recipes are really quick to make, healthy and very satisfying. I have been waiting to try this particular recipe since I saw that episode and I went to the store just to buy some ravioli yesterday.

Ingredients:
A pack of frozen Ravioli (I used 13 ounces of cheese ravioli.)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped & toasted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste.
Mint leaves for garnishing

Method:
Take water in a large vessel, salt it and bring it to a rolling boil.

Add the frozen ravioli to the water and cook till al dente. (Mine took about 10-12 minutes)

Meanwhile, in a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring & continue heating till the butter turns a nice golden brown color.

Set this aside. Cool for a minute or two and add the balsamic vinegar, honey, some salt & pepper. Mix well.

Toast some chopped walnuts in the oven. Toasting enhances the flavor of the nuts & gives a nice crunch to the dish.

When the ravioli are done, drain off the water and transfer onto a serving dish. Add the balsamic brown butter to this and mix well. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts and grated Parmesan cheese on the top.

Garnish with some mint.

I could not believe that something so simple could taste so good! I loved how the balsamic brown butter tasted. I was getting a little tired of seeing/eating pastas with the same old tomato based sauces. This was a nice change & I am going to make it often.

Cantaloupe Smoothie
To complete our meal, I also made a smoothie from some fruits that were begging to be consumed. (yeah, I know! ravioli & smoothie???)


Ingredients:
4 cups of peeled & diced cantaloupe
5-7 strawberries, washed & hulled (these need not be added. I had to get rid of some old strawberries)
1 cup yogurt (vanilla yogurt would have been great, I did not have any!)
3-4 drops of vanilla essence
2-3 tsp honey (depending on sweetness)

Method:
Place all the ingredients in a blender & blend till smooth.

Garnish with some fresh mint & serve chilled.

Banana Latte Smoothie

Here's a recipe for smoothie lovers & coffee lovers.
It's a great healthy breakfast by itself when you're pressed for time, serves as the perfect morning energizer or can be had just any time of the day.

Ingredients:
2 bananas
1 cup coffee (I made it by boiling a cup of milk & adding 1/2 - 1 1/2 tsp coffee powder to it & chilling it well before making the smoothie but do adjust according to your taste.)
1 cup cold milk(this is in addition to the milk used to make the coffee)
2 Tbsp yogurt
3-4 drops vanilla essence
Sugar as needed

Method:
Combine the ingredients & blend until smooth.
Couldn't get any simpler than that now, could it?

This makes 2 servings.

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients
10 -12 strawberries
1 banana
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2-3 tsp. sugar

Method
Blend all the ingredients really well until smooth.
Serve chilled. Enjoy!

Mango Milkshake

Ingredients:

1cup mango pulp ( I used something I got from the Indian Store)

2 cups ice-cold milk

A pinch of cardamom powder

Sugar to taste

Method:

Pay attention here as this bit is very complicated.

Place all the ingredients in the blender & blend away to your heart's content !!!

Enjoy!