Warmer spring weather often means cravings for cool treats. Even if you're on a quest for a bathing suit body, it doesn't preclude indulging in ice cream, especially if you supercharge it. Many popular chains offer mix-ins that turn your ice cram into your own custom flavor. Emulate the process at home, and your scoop will hide some healthy treasures.
Many cereals, for instance, taste like sweets, but are high-fiber gems. Ditto for dried fruit and nuts, which add fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Dark chocolate — the higher cacao content the better, shooting for package labels that note at least 70 percent — also is loaded with fiber and antioxidants. Delicious fresh herbs amp up both the nutrients and sophistication.
Consider some of the following mix-in montages as springboards for creating your own. All ingredients are to taste. For further nutrition boosts, think about using sugar-free ice cream, sorbet or frozen Greek yogurt.
CITRUS SYRUP DELIGHT
Gently mix the juice of freshly squeezed tangerine, grapefruit and lime and add a dash of cornstarch. Heat over low-medium heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it reduces and becomes the consistency of syrup. Let cool, stirring occasionally, to get more syrupy. Mix the syrup into lemon sorbet along with shredded fresh basil.
WHISK IN A WAFFLE
Toast whole-grain frozen toaster waffles. Carefully cut into squares. Drizzle with honey and, along with chopped toasted pecans, mix into sugar-free vanilla ice cream or frozen Greek yogurt.
BERRY GOOD
Dice strawberries and gently mix with dark chocolate chips and toasted sliced almonds. Mix into sugar-free strawberry ice cream, sorbet or frozen yogurt, along with shredded fresh mint.
RAISING THE BAR
Mix into chocolate ice cream, sorbet or frozen yogurt, bran cereal, dark chocolate raisins, sugar-free strawberry pancake syrup, chopped cashews and minced fresh cilantro.
AFTER-WORK GOURMET COOKBOOK SHELF
Judging the best cook in the world is all relative — especially when that relative is your own. There's no question that many of us would respond with the name of our mother, father, grandmother, grandfather or other favored family member. That longstanding truth is sweetly conveyed in Rick Bragg's "The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma's Table." The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author from Alabama passes on his mother's Southern treasures, many of which are decades-old family heirlooms. It's a delicious twist that he made this memoir a food-tinged one and included more than 70 recipes. If you like your recipes with a side order of superlative writing and storytelling, look no further.
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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