Cooking Your Way to Gorgeous (31 page)

A
n exotic drink with roots that may be from your garden. Hibiscus helps fight cholesterol, and this delicious drink takes a little time to make, but the flavor and effects are worth it. Orange juice yields vitamin C, and agave nectar’s low glycemic index does not spike blood sugar the way refined sugars in common cocktails do.

Ingredients:

*For Hibiscus Reduction

2 ounces dried hibiscus leaves/petals

3 ounces water

Truvia Baking Blend, to taste

*For Sour Mix

4 ounces raw agave nectar

4 ounces fresh squeezed orange juice

6 ounces water

*For Margarita Hibiscus

2 ounces Blanco tequila

2 ounces hibiscus reduction*

2 ounces sour mix**

Preparation:

1
To make hibiscus reduction, in a small saucepan over medium heat mix together the hibiscus, water, and Truvia Baking Blend. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the color has leached from the hibiscus petals. Remove from the heat, and, if the flavor seems too tangy, add a dash more Truvia. Strain the mixture and let it cool.

2
To make the sour mix, stir together the agave nectar, orange juice, and water.

3
To make the cocktail, shake together the tequila, hibiscus reduction, and sour mix. Strain over ice and serve in a wide fancy glass. The end result should be mildly tart and crisp. Sweetness can be adjusted per cocktail by adding more agave nectar. You can also add in a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Spicy Tequila Tea

Makes 1 Serving

S
urely your granny never sipped tea like this before! The black tea in chai is rich in antioxidants, and cinnamon is thought to decrease fatigue, increase circulation, and sharpen awareness. (Awareness may decrease due to clean-but-mean Ocho Reposado!)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons agave nectar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 ounces Ocho Reposado tequila

2 ounces chai tea

Preparation:

Rim a martini glass with agave nectar and cinnamon. To do this, simply coat the rim of a glass with the agave juice using a fingertip, then “dunk” the rim into any lid filled with the tablespoon of cinnamon. Shake all the remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker and then strain into the martini glass.

Borbanade

Makes 1 Serving

I
created this when I was in the mood for a refreshing cold lemonade but found myself in the middle of a Funday, so I said, why not pour in some vodka, too?

Ingredients:

1-1/2 ounces vodka

4-1/2 ounces lemonade

1 ounce pomegranate juice

1 teaspoon grenadine

1 lemon, sliced, as garnish

Preparation:

Pour the vodka, lemonade, pomegranate, and grenadine into a tall glass with ice. Stir and garnish with a lemon wheel. Sip, gulp, thrive!

Pomevation

Makes 2 Servings

I
f you like rum, this is a delicious mixture replete with vitamin C.

Ingredients:

2 ounces vodka

6 ounces tonic

1 cup frozen organic strawberries

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons Chambord

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup light rum

Strawberry and orange slices, for garnish

Preparation:

Fill a highball glass with ice; add the vodka. Combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth. Pour over the vodka and ice. Serve garnished with fresh strawberries and orange slices.

Cranberry-Grapefruit Fizz

Makes 2 (12-ounce) Drinks

C
ranberries, citrus, and pomegranates all have antioxidants, such as vitamin C, that will boost your immunity, especially during cold and flu season. A drink like the one below could become your go-to thirst quencher in the colder months, just be mindful of the alcohol addition.

Ingredients:

1 cup cranberry juice

1 cup grapefruit juice

1 cup sparkling water

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup Prosecco

Preparation:

Combine the ingredients in a large pitcher. Stir, and serve in tall glasses over ice.

Lychee Cocktail

Makes 1 Serving

I
’ve always liked the subtle tang of lychees, a pitted fruit, or nut, that’s got the right amount of neutrally sweet juice balanced with the right amount of acidity.

Ingredients:

2 ounces white wine

1 ounce light rum

1 ounce lychee juice

Dash lime juice

Lime slices, as garnish, optional

Lychee fruit, as garnish, optional

Preparation:

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled wine glass or champagne flute. Garnish with lime or lychee fruit. If you would like to substitute sparkling wine for the white wine, don’t add it to the shaker. Simply mix the other three ingredients and strain into a glass, then top with the sparkling wine.

Any of the previous cocktails can be made just as deliciously, and perhaps more soberly, without the addition of alcohol. That’s why we call them mocktails. Following are a few of my favorite nonalcoholic mocktail beverages, which are great for baby showers, luncheons, tea parties, picnics, kids’ sport events, in-store events, readings, and more. These are good for your skin because the ingredients are antioxidant rich and bio-available—easily absorbed into the body, providing the best results. Down the hatch!

Tart ’n’ Bubbly Punch

Makes 12 Servings

This is my recipe for pretty-in-pink party mocktails. This finished product looks great on a festive table in that massive crystal-cut punch bowl you so rarely use.

Ingredients:

10 to 15 blueberries

6 ounces Acai juice

3 ounces lychee juice

8 cups sugar-free cranberry juice

1 liter cranberry–ginger ale

2 cups crushed ice

Preparation:

Start by filling a small container with water and about 10 to 15 blueberries and freeze in advance. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a large punch bowl slowly adding in the cranberry–ginger ale and crushed ice last. When the punch is ready for presentation and serving, simply crack out your blueberry ice block and add it to the punch bowl.

Straight-Lime Mojito

Makes 12 Servings

I
like to think of this drink as the amusement park version of a mojito. It’s got the refreshing fresh mint and cool sherbet happening, along with good-for-you lime juice and thirst-quenching club soda.

Ingredients:

3 cups water

1-1/2 cups Truvia Baking Blend

2 cups mint leaves

2 cups lime sherbet, softened

1 cup lime juice

8 cups club soda

Lime slices, for garnish

Preparation:

1
Combine 2 cups of the water and the Truvia Baking Blend in a microwave-safe bowl; heat in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. Stir the mint into the water; let stand for 5 minutes.

2
Strain and discard the mint leaves from the syrup; set aside.

3
Stir the lime sherbet, lime juice, and remaining 1 cup of water together in a large pitcher until well combined.

4
Pour the mint-infused syrup into the sherbet mixture. Add the club soda and stir.

5
Serve over ice. Garnish with lime slices.

Rum-Flavored POW with
Coconut and Slivered Almonds

Makes 4 Servings

T
he pow you get from this recipe comes from pineapple, orange, and watermelon. These fruits are rich in vitamin C, fiber, folate, magnesium, and potassium. The rum that is called for is an extract, which, depending on the brand you use, may have a small quantity of alcohol in it with a concentrated rum flavor. In general, alcohol in food (for example, Penne a la Vodka, or in recipes that call for “1 cup red wine”) is mostly burned off in the cooking process. Therefore, after eating this recipe, or most miniscule-amount-of-alcohol-content recipes, you are safe to drive and operate heavy machinery!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Truvia Baking Blend

1/4 cup water

Half a lime, juiced

1 teaspoon rum extract

1 cup cubed seedless watermelon

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

2 medium oranges, peeled and cubed

3 tablespoons coconut

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Preparation:

1
In a small saucepan, heat the Truvia Baking Blend in the water until dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool. Add the lime juice and rum extract.

2
Place the fruit in a medium bowl, add the coconut and sugar water. Toss thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend and harmonize (think of this as marinating).

3
Place the fruit mixture in four parfait glasses, top with slivered almonds, and serve.

Honey-Grape Drink

Makes 2 Servings

Children love this simple drink. It’s a fun one to share at a tea party, just mind the carpet!

Ingredients:

1 cup grape juice

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup of boiling water

2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Preparation:

Heat 1 cup of grape juice. Set aside.

Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with ¼ cup of boiling water, stir until blended and dissolved, then add enough of the hot grape juice to fill a 12-ounce glass. For variety, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice may be added.

HONEY FACIAL, DARLING

With clean, washed hands, take a few drops of local honey on your fingertip and dab it over any acne. Do this at night before going to bed and keep on overnight. To keep the honey intact on acne, cover the applied surface with small round Band-Aids. In the morning, gently remove the Band-Aids and rinse your face with lukewarm water. If done regularly, this natural solution will help with treating acne scars as well.

Banana-Grape Smoothie

Makes 1 Serving

T
his is a delicious drink that goes down nicely in the morning when you’re short on time but need a blast of nutrients and energy.

Ingredients:

2 large bananas

2 handfuls red seedless grapes

1 cup ice

1/4 cup almond milk or soy

Preparation:

Place the bananas and grapes into a blender and mix until it becomes a smooth liquid. Add the ice and blend until crushed. Add the milk, mix until smooth, and pour into a tall glass. Serve.