Cooking San Francisco

Banana Almond Milkshake

 

We started out in pursuit of the perfect smoothie recipe but ended up with a delicious milkshake made without the traditional (and sugary) ingredient of ice cream. Our shake has lots of protein, which makes it an ideal breakfast option. It's not too sweet but could pass for dessert in most households. We have jumped on the agave nectar bandwagon because of it's sweet, but not over powering taste, low glycemic index numbers, and increased availability (you can find organic agave nectar at Trader Joe's). For a frostier shake, use 2 cups of ice, and for a fruitier shake use your choice of frozen fruit instead of the ice.

2 large, ripe bananas, peeled and divided in two pieces
1 cup milk
1 to 2 cups ice cubes or frozen fruit
1/4 cup plain, Greek-style yogurt
2 Tbsp sliced almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
Ground nutmeg

1. Blend first 7 ingredients in blender until smooth.

2. Divide smoothies among 2 glasses. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Serves 2 adults or 4 small children
 
Total Time: 5 minutes

 
 

Limoncello Sorrento

 

Truth be told, our recipe selection process is usually driven by necessity and expediency, (i.e. “What can we serve for dinner this week?” or “Yikes, 15 people are coming over for Thanksgiving in 3 days!”). However, back in December we had a lot of lemons and felt the need to shake things up a bit, to depart from seasonal turkeys and eggnog and the daily in-the-trenches cooking. With an eye toward Spring and the bright colors and fresh flavors that come with it, we decided to make limoncello. Clearly, this is not a recipe for the entire family, but rather one that takes the adults, at least, back to a simpler time, before consuming responsibilities and crazy schedules rendered the casual sippping of an after dinner drink completely out of the question.