FROZEN STRAWBERRY YOGURT...a refreshing ice-cream in disguise!

"Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal."

Voltaire

And when it is 'N O F A T', as in fat-free, insanely fruity & tangy, & has yogurt, then it's even bettah! This refreshing Frozen Strawberry Yogurt is much the ice-cream that I crave, & has all the goodness of the world stirred inside it. Stirred because it's hand made, yes you heard right, as I don't own an ice-cream machine, & David Levobitz is quite right when he says you can make ice-cream without a machine. Rolling lasagna for Daring Baker's Lasgana of Emilio Romagna (embarrassingly I was amongst a large number of us who thought Emilio Romagna was a lady, not a region as it actually is), gave me strong biceps. Making hand made ice-cream just adds to the toning...LOL!! I found this recipe posted by Coco @ Purple Foodie & have made it twice already, the first time with basil, & the second time without. Perfect scoop each time. I love yogurt with fruit & this has to be the easiest & most delicious summer dessert. While I wait impatiently for the mango season to arrive, I have a few bag of strawberries in the freezer... Thank you for the idea Coco!This post is specially for Year 3 of Cooking to Combat Cancer, an the event which is on its third go around. Cooking to Combat Cancer was started in March ’07 by Chris @ Melle Cotte after her world was rocked by cancer.

Have you met Chris? She's a fighter & she's doing a great job sharing her experience & knowledge about combating cancer. in her words, "As you're cooking over the next couple of weeks, try to work in recipes which include ingredients that help the body fight cancer. In short? Think healthy." Check out her post here for many useful links. Berries are part of this list of 11 cancer fighting foods that I found on her post.

Berries: The two most widely studied cancer-fighting compounds in berries are ellagic acid (richest in strawberries and raspberries) and anthocyanosides (richest in blueberries). Ellagic acid is believed to help prevent skin, bladder, lung, and breast cancers, both by acting as an antioxidant and by slowing the reproduction of cancer cells. The anthocyanosides in blueberries are currently the most powerful antioxidants known to scientists and are beneficial in the prevention of all types of cancer.

I think this recipe might work as well with blueberries too, though I can't try that version as blueberries are non-existent in India. My best choice was strawberries for Chris, & they do make this a very delicious low-cal dessert!FROZEN STRAWBERRY YOGURT
Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
1 cup (240g) hung curd
1 pound (450g) strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Method:

• Tie the yogurt in a cheesecloth and let it sit in a strainer in a bowl overnight or for at least 2 hours. This will help drain off all the whey and result in a very creamy frozen yogurt dessert. (I think overnight is a better option)
• Cut the strawberries and toss it in the sugar until it begins to dissolve. (I used vanilla sugar)
• Blend it together to a puree. (Strain if you don't like the seeds in)
• Next, blend in the yogurt and lime juice until the mixture is smooth. (Check the sweetness if you like)
• Freeze the mixture in a wide dish or plastic container. (The larger the surface area, quicker the freezing – since we have to pulse this mixture a couple of times).
• Keep checking on the mixture every 30 minutes or so and use the stick blender to break the icicles, 4, maybe 5 times. (I used a sturdy whisk).

• Once it's almost set, you can add a handful of finely chopped fresh basil, or else, some chopped pistachio nuts if you like.
• Garnish with sliced strawberries & a sprig of basil, or, chopped pistachio nuts & mint!

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