Strawberry Coconut Sorbet
This week, it’s all about Valentine’s Day and a fantastic allergy friendly dessert!
I love a sweet bite at the end of the meal. Even more so, I love a simple dessert that’s easy to put together, quick to serve and is family and allergy friendly.
Before opening my first restaurant Blue Ginger, I made a conscious decision to make the restaurant food allergy friendly. Funny or not so funny enough, it ended up becoming an even more important decision just a few years later when my first son was born with life threatening allergies to 7 of the top 8 food allergens. He is since cured of his allergies (for more information click here), but having a restaurant where I knew my son could safely eat was critically important. The Food Allergy Bible was born out of the idea to quickly identify food allergies in dishes. Each dish is broken down into its components so that during service, servers are able to quickly identify the part of the dish that contains the allergy, work the with chef to find a solution and provide a safe and fantastic meal for the customer. Upon opening my second restaurant Blue Dragon, I wanted to take things one step further and make it 100% peanut and tree nut free. It’s incredibly humbling to have families with kids who have never eaten in an Asian restaurant safely eat at Blue Dragon. The knowledge that we can safely serve them a delicious and tasty meal, it’s icing on the cake.
This dessert is the perfect combination of sweet, refreshing and allergy friendly and comes just in time for Valentine’s Day. Instead of milk or heavy cream, I used coconut milk to give it a creamy mouthfeel. A quick puree in the blender and you get a nice pillowy sorbet. Sprinkle in coconut flakes to bring out the subtle coconut flavor or garnish with a nice chocolate shaving for a spin on chocolate covered strawberries. Not only is this dessert simple and delicious, but you can feel good about eating it too. I’ll let Becca, my PR/Marketing guru and Registered Dietitian chat about why it’s full of good for you ingredients, but trust me on this- this is one dessert you don’t want to miss!
Notes from Becca:
Thanks Chef! I love that this dessert is so simple, refreshing and contains the perfect amount of sweetness. Plus, the use of coconut milk is such a great way to keep this dairy free. Coconut milk and coconut butter in particular have been a hot topic in the nutrition world the past few years. Initially, coconut butter was a buzz-worthy topic because it was thought to potentially aid with weight loss and cholesterol reduction. The key to remember with a lot of nutrition trends is to always look at the research and understand the science. That being said, my takeaway for you is that coconut intake won’t necessarily help you lose weight or decrease your cholesterol. Unfortunately, there’s no magic pill or one fix all solution. Coconut butter and milk is packed with medium-chain triglycerides and therefore contains higher saturated fat content. The higher fat content may be what helps keep you full longer, but that’s because it takes longer to digest fat compared to carbohydrates. The moral of the story is coconut milk and butter are not the cure all, but they are fantastic dairy free substitutes!
Eat Well With Ming: Did you know frozen fruit and vegetables are picked and frozen at peak ripeness to maintain their nutrient content? Frozen or fresh strawberries are loaded with vitamin C, fiber, manganese and potassium. And while you might think because strawberries are sweet they are full of sugar (natural sugar that is) they actually have a very high water content and a low glycemic index score so they won’t cause your blood sugar to spike.
Strawberry Coconut Sorbet
Serves 4
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
In a blender, add strawberries, coconut milk and zest to a blender and blend until just smooth.
Serve immediately and garnish with coconut flakes.