We blended up some gorgeous pink Lassis this week in cooking class. The kids put all of the ingredients into their bowls and waited so patiently till it was their turn to blend and watch the red and white things mix together and turn rose. The Lassis, basically Indian smoothies, were met with many glugs of approval.
Here we’ve used calcium and magnesium-rich almond milk, which you can make or buy, and antioxidant-rich ruby red pomegranates, a splurge from California, and fragrant local pears, so ripe that they were pretty much sitting out on our counter begging to be used in this lassi recipe.
Please substitute any milks in these that suit your family-rice, almond, cow’s, oat, soy etc. all work interchangeabley. And for the Big Person version, a few sloshes of rum or pomegranate vodka would be perfect for the holiday season…mini-chefs aside.
Pear-Pomegranate Lassis
For the liquid:
*2 c. plain or vanilla yogurt
*1/3 c. pomegranate juice***
*2/3 cold water
*1 c. almond milk
*1 t. ground cardamom
* the seeds from one pomegranate, a few reserved for the garnish
*a ripe, juicy pear, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
For the garnish:
*a tablespoon of sliced almonds
* a few of the reserved pomegranate seeds
*sprigs of mint
Measure out and pour all of the liquid ingredients into a blender and cover. Have your mini-chef flip the switch and watch it whir. This is a great time to talk about how white and red make…PINK!
Garnish with the almonds, pomegranate seeds and springs of mint.
***If pomegranate juice is too pricey, then you can definitely cut this ingredient and substitute another 1/3 c. water with delicious results
