I'm a big fan of Rachel Ray, and when she had the show where she talked about acai berry, I got very excited. The only thing I thought was missing was more acai berry recipes from Rachael Ray. So I thought that I might do some experimenting of my own and come up with a few new recipes. I'm not a professional chef or anything, but I do have fairly good luck with modifying existing recipes and having pretty good results.
The first thing I tried was an acai berry juice marinade on chicken breast. This is just a variation of an orange juice and white pepper marinade I picked up in Nicaragua or the lime juice and soy marinade I had been using for years. I should note that I always marinade for at least six hours as any less time doesn't do much for me.
I cut the chicken breast into strips and pour acai juice and some extra virgin cold pressed olive oil over the pieces. In an effort to cut the sweetness, I added some sea salt and crushed capers. The result was interesting and got fairly good reviews. I didn't like it as much as my stand by marinades so I won't be likely to repeat this recipe. Also I ended up tossing much of the acai goodness down the drain which entirely defeats the health benefits of acai berry juice. Additionally, acai is more expensive than lime juice or orange juice so it was a slightly expensive experiment.
Surely Rachel Ray would use acai more sensibly! The next recipe I tried was acai frozen yogurt and it was a much bigger success. I added acai berry juice to plain low fat yogurt. I poured the mixture into a screened drainer lined with two layers of cheese cloth. I then left the mixture in the fridge to drip into a bowl for 24 hours. After 24 hours the yogurt was the texture of cream cheese. It was perfect to spread on bagels or crackers at this point.
Once the yogurt has drained, I just peel/scrape the mixture off of the cheesecloth into a Tupperware and then into the freezer. After about 8 hours I have a wonderful frozen yogurt desert, that is not too sweet, and has all the acai berry nutrition benefits. If you like your frozen yogurt harder or softer you can adjust the time you leave it in the freezer to change the consistency.
The last and most obvious recipe was an acai berry smoothie. I added ice, two frozen bananas, some plain low fat yogurt, and 1.5 cups of acai berry juice to the blender. Predictably, it was excellent. Smoothie recipes are almost fool proof. Don't forget to add a little wheat germ to smoothies to add some invisible protein and fibre to your smoothie recipes.
So after all my experimenting with acai berry recipes, I am pretty happy with the ones that I came up with. I'm sure that I'll do some more versions and will probably come up with a few more that I can use to keep me from getting bored of the same acai drink every day. I just wish that Rachel Ray would have another show about acai berry, because I'm sure that she could come up with some pretty delicious acai berry recipes.
The first thing I tried was an acai berry juice marinade on chicken breast. This is just a variation of an orange juice and white pepper marinade I picked up in Nicaragua or the lime juice and soy marinade I had been using for years. I should note that I always marinade for at least six hours as any less time doesn't do much for me.
I cut the chicken breast into strips and pour acai juice and some extra virgin cold pressed olive oil over the pieces. In an effort to cut the sweetness, I added some sea salt and crushed capers. The result was interesting and got fairly good reviews. I didn't like it as much as my stand by marinades so I won't be likely to repeat this recipe. Also I ended up tossing much of the acai goodness down the drain which entirely defeats the health benefits of acai berry juice. Additionally, acai is more expensive than lime juice or orange juice so it was a slightly expensive experiment.
Surely Rachel Ray would use acai more sensibly! The next recipe I tried was acai frozen yogurt and it was a much bigger success. I added acai berry juice to plain low fat yogurt. I poured the mixture into a screened drainer lined with two layers of cheese cloth. I then left the mixture in the fridge to drip into a bowl for 24 hours. After 24 hours the yogurt was the texture of cream cheese. It was perfect to spread on bagels or crackers at this point.
Once the yogurt has drained, I just peel/scrape the mixture off of the cheesecloth into a Tupperware and then into the freezer. After about 8 hours I have a wonderful frozen yogurt desert, that is not too sweet, and has all the acai berry nutrition benefits. If you like your frozen yogurt harder or softer you can adjust the time you leave it in the freezer to change the consistency.
The last and most obvious recipe was an acai berry smoothie. I added ice, two frozen bananas, some plain low fat yogurt, and 1.5 cups of acai berry juice to the blender. Predictably, it was excellent. Smoothie recipes are almost fool proof. Don't forget to add a little wheat germ to smoothies to add some invisible protein and fibre to your smoothie recipes.
So after all my experimenting with acai berry recipes, I am pretty happy with the ones that I came up with. I'm sure that I'll do some more versions and will probably come up with a few more that I can use to keep me from getting bored of the same acai drink every day. I just wish that Rachel Ray would have another show about acai berry, because I'm sure that she could come up with some pretty delicious acai berry recipes.
About the Author:
Please visit this acai berry superfood site, or find more information by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment