Our Food Writer Allison from Seek Satiation is back for a YBC Ingredient Challenge! Hope you enjoy, and please show her some love down in the comments section! xoCandace
Welcome to the first installment of the YBC Ingredient Challenge!
I love collaborating with people that have invigorating ideas for content! Candace and I engaged in some back 'n' forth e-mailing regarding summer recipe post ideas, and she hit the nail on the head with an awesome concept: Make three recipes over the course of the summer, but work with three surprise ingredients per recipe to make something interesting, a la "Chopped".
You KNOW I'm game.
She picked nine ingredients for me - three for June, three for July, and three for August - and shipped them off to New York City; Adam, this guy I've been annoying on a daily basis for the past 6+ years - 😆 - was kind enough to remove the items from their shipping boxes and put them in a bag for me to choose from. He would not let me sneak a peek! For this first recipe, I blindly picked my first three ingredients, fearing that I'd be mixing nori sheets, beef gelatin, and strawberry jam. (Oyyyyy.) Lucky for me, my first three ingredients were fairly complementary:
Vega One All-In-One Vanilla Chai Shake Mix, honey, and sea salt.
YBC Ingredient Challenge Items For June 2018
While I had a few ideas written down about how I wanted to incorporate this batch of ingredients - including an oat milk-based honey latte with vanilla chai ice cubes or vanilla chai oatmeal cookies drizzled with salted honey - my final product came as a result of something not - so - awesome: a dreaded summer cold! Noooo! I wanted something soft and cooling for my scratchy throat with wholesome nourishing ingredients; I also wanted a bit of indulgence as well. (Who wouldn't?)
Hence, this nice cream!
Honey Chai Nice Cream - In Progress!
The taste is wonderful - the key is to use slightly ripened bananas, ones that aren't too browned - and the Vega One blends in like a dream. Banana and chai spices complement each other well. I am a salty girl - both as a salt lover and in terms of today's use of "salty" in our Millennial lexicon, ha! - and that little kick of sea salt adds an extra depth of flavor. It's even more pronounced if you drizzle honey and sea salt on the finished product. TRUST ME.
Be sure to come back to Yoga by Candace in July and August for my next two recipes for the YBC Ingredient Challenge! Depending on what's left in the bag - Adam is literally hiding it from me in his apartment, because he's committed to this! Ha! - I could create something amazing or something abhorrent. But isn't that part of the fun of this recipe series? 😉
Tag #YBCEats if you try your hand at this recipe and post it on social media, because we'd love to see your nice cream!
Honey Chai Nice Cream
Honey Chai Nice Cream
(Makes approximately 3 cups)
Ingredients:
- 1 oz. Vega One All-In-One Vanilla Chai Shake Mix
- 4 large bananas, peeled, cut into chunks, and frozen
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Note:
- Freeze banana chunks for at least four hours before making this recipe, though overnight is best! This will yield a creamy soft-serve consistency.
- If you are vegan and prefer not to use honey - I know some folks are more lenient about consuming honey than others - omit and replace with a sweetener of your choice!
Directions:
1.) Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and pulse until smooth. Serve immediately or save in air-tight freezer-safe container.
2.) Top as you please, but I continued with the honey and sea salt theme here: Top with strawberries, blueberries, honey, and a sprinkle of sea salt!