I am given, on the weekends, to doing chores around the house while the Food Network is on in the background. This past weekend, I tuned to Giada de Laurentiis, and put the volume loud enough that wherever I was, I could hear her talking and preparing food in her immaculate, granite-countered Los Angeles kitchen, while her Anthropologie fashion designer husband, Todd Thompson, was out fashion designing and stuff, and, I kept imagining, totally missing the fun.
Giada was getting ready to have "the girls" over (some paid actresses) to enjoy a spa day with her when I took a break from cleaning and sat down to watch. The first thing she started making was this Basil Lemon smoothie, which looked delicious.
Today, with the sun finally showing its face, I made my own version, as I thought hers had too much sugar. It's a nice blend, lemon and basil. The end effect is a clean-tasting and healthy summer beverage.
You will need
For the smoothie:
- 1 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 scoops vanilla bean protein powder (I use Designer Whey, as I am personally dubious about the side effects of soy. Also, there are 12 solid grams of protein in 2 scoops, that's 1/5 of my daily protein needs.)
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup ice
For the simple syrup:
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 3 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 cup water
Mix the simple syrup ingredients together to make the less caloric simple syrup. Boil over medium heat then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 20 minutes.
Once syrup is cooled, blend all ingredients together in the blender, serve immediately. Makes about 12 oz.
