Thursday, June 28, 2012

Strawberry Ice Cream

It's that time of year again.


Time to purge things that have been in my cabinet for too long so they don't have to get packed up and moved.  Again.


At some point (probably 2 years ago) I had picked up a nut-based cream substitute.  I'm sure there was a reason or recipe idea in my head when I bought it, but it has long since vanished.  When I realized it was sweetened, I figured it'd be best to try it out in ice cream!  With a pint full of perfect farm-fresh strawberries, I wanted a recipe that really let them shine, and this was it.  Full of flavor, this is the perfect summer-time treat :)


Strawberry Ice Cream
adapted from Dave Lebovitz
yield:  ~2c

If you don't have sweetened mimicreme, feel free to use another dairy or non-dairy creamer or even rice milk like Dave does in his original recipe and increase the sugar to 1/3c.

1lb roughly chopped strawberries (~3c)
3T vanilla sugar  (evaporated cane juice & vanilla bean, whirred in food processor)
1 1/2T honey
dash salt
1c sweetened mimicreme
2t fresh lemon juice

Add strawberries to a medium bowl, along with the sugar and honey.  Stir to combine, and let sit at RT for about 1hr.

Add berries, sugar and accumulated juices to a blender along with the remaining ingredients.  Blend to your desired consistency (either completely creamy, very chunky or somewhere in between).  Taste and add more lemon juice, if desired.  Place mixture in fridge until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.


If you're wondering what else I did with the mimicreme...  vegan carrot cake ice cream!  Delicious and warming in its own right, but...  it being summer, I found myself reaching for my strawberry ice cream first :)


My changes to the recipe:  coconut spread for margarine, almond milk for soy milk, mimicreme for creamer, and reduced the sugar to 1/4c.


Have you ever tried mimicreme?  If not, perhaps you'd like to chime in with your favorite ice cream flavor??

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Chilled Watermelon Soup

Last week we saw some pretty hot temperatures up here in the Northeast.  How convenient, then, that I was creating a chilled soup for the 5 Star Foodie Makeover Challenge this month!


I thought I'd play on one of my favorite summer salads and created this chilled watermelon soup.  Unfortunately I had forgotten about the feta I picked up for the soup when I took the pictures, so you'll have imagine some of that in the bowl ;)  It definitely adds a nice dimension to the soup, so I wouldn't leave it out!


Thanks to the fabulous Natasha & Lazaro for hosting!  There's lots of summer left, why not jump on the cold soup train?!



Chilled Watermelon Soup
Recipe by Shannon
Serves 1-2

For the soup:
1 1/2c cubed watermelon
1/4c grape tomatoes
1-2 basil leaves (a few mint leaves would also work well)
dash of salt

For serving:
cherry tomatoes, halved
crumbled feta
hot sauce/chili oil, if desired

Add soup ingredients to a blender and process until smooth.  Strain and chill for a few hours.

To serve, place some tomatoes and feta in a bowl and top with chilled soup.  Top with some hot sauce or chili oil to give it a little kick, if you're into that sort of thing ;)


What's your favorite way to cool off in the summer??
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