The Physique 57 Solution (99 page)

1 bag (8 ounces) frozen cherries

¼ cup apple juice

Juice of ½ lemon

Thaw the cherries and strain to remove excess liquid. Preheat the oven to 375°. Place all the ingredients in a glass casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes.

This recipe works best when the honeydew is ripe to slightly overripe. To choose a ripe honeydew, simply smell the melon—if it’s not really fragrant, it’s not ripe. You can also ripen a melon at home in your kitchen by allowing it to stand unrefrigerated for several days
.

½ large, ripe honeydew, cut into 1” pieces

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt

Place the honeydew and lime juice in a food processor and blend until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the mint and yogurt and mix well. Ladle the soup into two bowls and top with the mint-yogurt mixture.

2 cups fresh strawberries, halved, stems removed

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Place the strawberries and cocoa powder together in a ziplock bag or container with a cover. Shake to coat the strawberries evenly with the cocoa.

2 bananas

6 tablespoons Cocoa Cream (
here
)

2 tablespoons Toasted Coconut (
here
)

1 teaspoon cocoa powder (for dusting; optional)

Cut the bananas in half lengthwise and then in half again. Spread Cocoa Cream on each piece. Place the coconut in a small dish and dip the cream side of the bananas in the coconut to coat. You can dust with cocoa powder to garnish.

1¾ cups orange juice

1 cup coconut water for blending

Pour the orange juice into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Transfer the frozen cubes to a food processor or blender, add the coconut water, and pulse until smooth.

This dish makes a lovely presentation. If it looks big, keep in mind that cantaloupe has very few calories! You can choose a ripe cantaloupe by smelling the melon—if it’s not really fragrant, it’s not ripe
.

1 ripe cantaloupe, cut in half crosswise (not lengthwise), seeds removed

1 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries

2 tablespoons Cashew Cream (
here
)

2 teaspoons black cherry concentrate

Cut a thin layer off the bottom of melon so it’s stable on a plate. Fill the center of the melon with the raspberries and top with the Cashew Cream. Drizzle black cherry concentrate on top.

Most commercial vanillas contain a lot of sugar and chemicals, so for this recipe, try to use organic vanilla extract—make sure you buy the kind that includes alcohol rather than glycerin. Organic vanillas also give desserts a much richer flavor
.

2 Bosc pears, skin on

2 cups apple juice

Generous dash: cloves, cinnamon, ground cardamom

1 tablespoon grade B maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375°. Cut the bottoms off the pears so they are stable in a deep glass casserole dish. Pour in the apple juice and sprinkle with spices. Bake until fork-
tender, basting every 15 minutes or so; cooking time is about 1 hour. Transfer the pears to a separate dish and pour the remaining juice into a small saucepan. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until reduced by half. Spoon the sauce over the pears and serve.

Chilling the watermelon to very cold will give this drink a satisfying, icy texture
.

2 cups chilled, seedless watermelon chunks

2 slices cucumber, for garnish

Place the watermelon in the food processor and blend until smooth. Garnish with cucumber on the side.