Fruit and Ice Make Summer Nice

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

In the peak of summer heat, it takes more than water to cool the body down. If it is the end of a long day working in the yard, a cold beer at sunset might be in order. A jog through the neighborhood in full sun might require the patronage of a pint-sized lemonade stand along the way. Or for a more filling yet still cooling beverage, a chilly smoothie of frozen fruits and yogurt could be just the thing to cool down without weighing down when the sun is blazing.

In parts of the world where summer is eternal, cooling beverages are more than treats, they are survival tools to make it through long, hot, often humid days. In Southeast Asia and India where tropical fruits abound, fresh fruit juices and blended fruit drinks are served with almost every meal, not to mention between meals as ad hoc smoothies blended up by street vendors.

The smoothie craze, perhaps taking a cue from these warm Asian climates, hit the United States sometime in the mid nineties. Frozen fruits were whipped up with fruit juices, frozen yogurt or sorbet, and perhaps some juice. Health addicts began adding supplements that claimed to do everything from fighting colds to assisting with weight loss. Like many trends, it has evolved over the years but has far from faded away. Sugary juices are being pushed aside in favor of whole frozen fruits, nonfat yogurt is taking the place of high calorie frozen yogurt, and protein is often added as powdered soy or whey to make the drink a more complete meal. Today’s smoothie can be hearty addition to breakfast or lunch, or be the meal itself.

Whole fruit blended drinks have been popular in parts of Asia long before Jamba Juice opened its first set of doors. With bounties of pineapple, papaya, mango, and other tropical fruits, making a cool drink from fruit and ice is both easy and cheap. In Saigon enterprising entrepreneurs back up trucks to parks and public walkways for makeshift smoothie stands. A portable generator fires up to whip pineapple or papaya with ice coconut milk and a bit of sugar. The icy drink is pored into a plastic bag, the ends of which are tied to secure in place a straw. It is the world’s most refreshing and fresh juice box.

Dairy is a big part of Indian cuisine, both for taste and as a source of protein. Hence in the Indian blended fruit drink, lassi, dairy plays a central role binding together the fruits of choice with milk and yogurt. Savory lassi are flavored with cardamom and salt while sweet lassi benefit from a touch of honey or sugar. Traditionally lassi are served as an accompaniment to the meal, the sweet cooling drink a perfect compliment to fiery Indian cuisine. But with the right balance of milk and yogurt, a homemade lassi makes wonderful light breakfast, not unlike the many “drinkable yogurts” currently found on supermarket shelves just made to order.

I am up for blended fruit drinks anytime of year but none more than during the dog days of summer. On lazy Sunday afternoons post a long run, my boyfriend will often whip up a light yet satisfying blend of vanilla yogurt, vanilla soymilk, banana, and mixed frozen berries, with a spoonful of vegetable powder for health and maybe a handful of Quaker Oatsquares at the end of blending for crunchy texture.

As a lover of all tropical fruits, lassi is the perfect way for me to use the ripe mangos and extra papaya that I might not have the time to eat whole. Into the blender I’ll combine the two fruits with low fat milk, vanilla yogurt, a pinch of cardamom seeds, a spoonful of honey and crushed ice. Whatever I don’t drink at that sitting keeps perfectly well in a sealed container until the next days when I can blend it again with ice for my breakfast on the go.

In the heat of summer, sometimes water just isn’t enough to quench a serious thirst. A cooling fruit drink can bring a depleted body back to life. If you can’t do as the Vietnamese do and pack a portable generator to fill a smoothie craving, consider keeping the freezer stocked with frozen berries for spontaneous fruit smoothies and milk and yogurt for the occasional lassi. If the heat has you down and the smoothie shop is just too far away in the summer heat, cool down at the freezer and whip up a fruity frozen drink to rehydrate the long, hot days of summer.

Serves/Makes: 2

• 1 cup cubed mango
• 1 cup cubed papaya
• 1 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 6 ounces vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon seeds from cardamom pods
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup crushed ice