cherry Archives - Ari's Menu

Tart Cherry Margaritas

April 30, 2015 · by Ari · 2 Comments

Tons of fresh flavor and the perfect amount of sweetness, tart cherry margaritas will disappear in minutes at any gathering.

Maaaar-gaaaaa-riiiiiitas! Only, like, the very best margaritas I have ever had in my entire life. And I do not use the words “very best” lightly I have had, and made, some bomb margaritas (does anyone still say bomb anymore?), but these babies take the cake.

I made an entire pitcher–like HUGE pitcher–for friends and family and literally the entire thing was gone in approximately 90 minutes. Even my friends who rarely drink kept going back for more, and I had to cut Steve off so there would be enough left for our guests. Not that I blame him though…I was equally obsessed.

I like a margarita where I can taste my tequila. I love a hint of sweetness, but I hate those margs that taste like pure sweet and sour mix. Ummm…gross. These are sweetened by with a little simple syrup. I use sugar, but you could always use agave to keep it naturally sweetened. The tart cherry juice and sour lime give it a little bite that you’d expect from a great margarita.

With just 5 ingredients and a big, bold taste, these will quickly become your favorite margarita, just like it has for me!

Tart Cherry Margaritas

Author: Ari Ziskin

Recipe type: Drinks

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 12

Tons of fresh flavor and the perfect amount of sweetness, tart cherry margaritas will disappear in minutes at any gathering.

Ingredients

For the simple syrup:

2 cups water
1½ cups granulated sugar

For the margaritas:

3 cups 100% tart cherry juice
2 cups fresh lime juice (I used about 15 limes)
2½ cups tequila
½ cup triple sec
simple syrup

Instructions

To make the simple syrup, heat water and sugar in a large sauce pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, stirring constantly until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
To make the margaritas, gently stir all ingredients together in a large pitcher. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie

January 12, 2015 · by Ari · 3 Comments

This creamy, vegan chocolate covered cherry smoothie is a healthy breakfast option that tastes like dessert. In just 2 minutes, you can have a healthy, filling breakfast that you will be excited to eat!

Chocolate for breakfast!!! Chocolate for snack!! Chocolate for all the time.

One day I came home from a run, and I threw all of my stuff into the blender to make a huge, cold smoothie. Then, on a whim I threw in some chocolate chips. Now I can’t make a smoothie without chocolate chips. It’s kind of a problem. Except it’s not, because it’s delicious.

I have to admit, when I first found out about the new Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative, I was totally skeptical. I mean, I loooove my Silk, and buy their products all the time, but I am a Greek yogurt girl at heart, and I wasn’t sure how this could possibly compare. While I have to admit that I would still consider myself a Greek yogurt girl, this new dairy-free yogurt alternative was actually great! It didn’t taste fake, and it was much thicker than I had expected.

I’m not typically a fan of things that aren’t what you want them to be. I don’t do fake meat, and I would rather not eat cheese than eat anything resembling fake cheese (unless it’s like a creamy nut based cheese sauce–that’s an other story, and a totally different form of delicious!), but that’s what I love about this new product–it’s not trying to be yogurt. It’s an alternative. It contains 6 grams of plant-based protein, and it has all the creamy, deliciousness you’re looking for. It is also made with real fruit, along with being dairy-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, carrageenan-free, vegetarian, healthy, and totally delicious. That’s a lot of info. Here’s what you really need to know: It’s legit.

I love making smoothies, and this is the first time I’ve been able to make one that my vegan friends can enjoy too! I’m so grateful that Silk put this awesome Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative on the market!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie

Author: Ari Ziskin

Recipe type: Breakfast

Prep time: 2 mins

Total time: 2 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

1 frozen banana
¼ cup Silk Black Cherry Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative
2 handfuls ice
1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips
1 cup unsweetened almond milk*
generous pinch chia seeds, optional

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Notes

*You may wish to start with ¾ cup almond milk and add more depending on your desired thickness

To find out about more amazing products and promotions, check out the Silk newsletter, or follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

August 17, 2014 · by Ari · 15 Comments

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

Ultra thick and creamy tart cherry frozen yogurt loaded with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. So decadent, you’d never guess the base is FAT FREE!

After an incredible summer in Portland, I’m back in Phoenix. Back to real work, and back to 100++ degrees. And again I’m wondering…WHY DON’T I LIVE IN PORTLAND? Well, a fantastic husband, my puppies and an entire life time of family and friends make the heat livable I suppose.

Totally unreasonable amounts of frozen yogurt don’t hurt either. 😉 You may have noticed that before I left I was on a bit of an ice cream kick. I finally figured out my ice cream maker, and I just couldn’t stop. The real deal, full fat ice cream is just so hard to recreate that I was a little nervous to go back to homemade fro-yo. I mean, I am a HUGE fan of soft serve, and I will eat it any time, any day, but it is just so hard to make something at home that doesn’t turn into an icy mess.

The good news? This is by far the BEST frozen yogurt I have ever made! The base is so rich and creamy, and packed with tart cherry flavor. You may remember a little bit about the benefits of tart cherries from this Tart Cherry Lime Elixir. They are said to reduce soreness and oxidative stress, and aid in recovery. Also, they are delicious. I’ve been drinking tart cherry juice plain for the 7 Day Cherry Juice Challenge, and it is the perfect amount of sweet and tart.

This challenge is great leading up to a big race or event, and it’s incredibly easy to incorporate! If you love the taste of tart cherry juice, just drink 8 ounces a day, or you can use 2 tablespoons of the concentrate as a shot–college flash backs anyone? Except I like the idea of actually feeling better the next day instead of worse (the woes of getting older)–or diluted in another beverage.

Okay, back to the fro-yo. We all know that cherries pair magically with chocolate. White chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate syrup, you name it. I went for a combination of white and dark chocolate to create more flavors, but you are free to use whatever you’d like. Or, if you’d like to keep this 100% fat free, feel free to skip the chocolate all together, and it will still be delicious!

Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

Ultra thick and creamy tart cherry frozen yogurt loaded with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. So decadent, you'd never guess the base is FAT FREE!

Ingredients

2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon tart cherry juice concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tablespoon bourbon or vodka, optional
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
¼ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, tart cherry juice concentrate and vanilla extract until combined and sugar is fully dissolved. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. Add bourbon or vodka in the last 2-3 minutes of freezing. This is optional, but recommended—it keeps the frozen yogurt from freezing hard and icy. Fold in chocolate chips. Frozen yogurt is best served immediately, but can also be stored in a freezer safe container, just allow 10-15 minutes thawing time before scooping.

http://www.arismenu.com/tart-cherry-fro-yo/

To learn more about tart cherries and their benefits, check out ChooseCherries.com, or follow their Facebook / Twitter /Pinterest / YouTube!

Tart Cherry Lime Elixir

August 1, 2014 · by Ari · 6 Comments

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

This sweet & sour cocktail has all the flavor of a refreshing cherry limeade, spiked with cherry vodka and filled with recovery-boosting 100% tart cherry juice.

I’m pretty sure I have created my ideal drink for all time. A recovery drink that’s spiked with booze? Yes, please. Here’s the thing, I loooove working hard. I’m kind of a freak like that, but I genuinely love to beat myself up a little so that I can have fun later. In fact, Long Run Day would not be complete for me if it didn’t end with a cocktail. Usually involving bourbon, but I made an exception. 😉

There have been a lot of studies lately connecting tart cherries and tart cherry juice to aiding recovery, reducing soreness and oxidative stress. Okay, so as much as I love working hard, I am not super in love with the feeling of being sore ALL THE TIME. Ever since I started crossfit, I keep waiting for the day when I’m not sore, and it just never happens, so I was super stoked to put tart cherries to the test!

I set out to make myself a little recovery drink. A cherry limeade type of thing (ummm also, I’d never had that before…it’s like I’ve been living under a rock), and it was AWESOME! Tart, lightly sweet, refreshing and delicious. After drinking my weight in glasses, I wanted to spice things up a little, so I turned it into a simple, cute little cocktail.

The ingredients are so simple: just pure tart cherry juice, freshly squeezed lime juice, simple syrup, and a splash of vodka. Now, normally I’m a girl who likes to taste my alcohol, but this drink is definitely on the milder side. You can always make it stronger, but it’s not meant to be a “hard” drink. It’s more like a sitting by the pool, relaxing, relishing in your accomplishments drink.

The recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. because, let me tell ya, if you have friends over, they’re also going to want a glass…or seven.

Tart Cherry Lime Elixir

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 cups

Serving Size: 1 cup

Tart Cherry Lime Elixir

This sweet & sour cocktail has all the flavor of a refreshing cherry limeade, spiked with cherry vodka and filled with recovery-boosting 100% tart cherry juice.

Ingredients

For the simple syrup:

1 cup water
¾ cup sugar

For the cocktail:

1 batch simple syrup
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup water
1 cup 100% tart cherry juice
4 shots cherry vodka (or plain vodka)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

To make the simple syrup, combine water and sugar in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar has dissolved. Remove and cool completely.
To make the cocktail, whisk together simple syrup, lime juice, water, tart cherry juice, vodka and salt. Serve immediately over ice or store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Notes

This is also delicious as a nonalcoholic drink! If you are making it for kids or don't feel like drinking, just leave out the vodka and it will be equally refreshing and delicious!

http://www.arismenu.com/tart-cherry-lime-elixir/

To learn more about tart cherries and their benefits, check out ChooseCherries.com, or follow their Facebook / Twitter /Pinterest / YouTube!

Bourbon Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

July 25, 2013 · by Ari · 14 Comments

Do you know how many years of my life I wasted believing I didn’t like bourbon? It’s a damn shame.

I promise, I didn’t mean to put alcohol in my brownies. They started out as just regular chocolate brownies with cherries and dark chocolate for my dad’s birthday. He loves a black forrest cake, but he loves brownies more than cake, and so I wanted a similar flavor profile in brownie form.

But then I remembered these cookies, and made a game time decision to soak the cherries in bourbon. Of course, if you don’t like bourbon (who are you????), you can totally skip this step and still have some rich and gooey cherry and dark chocolate brownies, but I really feel like the bourbon takes them to the next level.

One of the secrets to perfect brownies is to just ever so slightly under-bake them. They will continue to bake when you let them cool in your pan. My problem is that I am impatient and I never wait long enough to cut into them. Oh and also that I often over estimate the amount of unbaked that is ideal and end up eating brownie batter because I pulled them from the oven a good 10 minutes too early. These were totally still hot and gooey when I photographed them, but I just couldn’t wait. They firm up a bit as they cool making them easier to serve, but still soft and fudgy.

I love the crisp brownie top (my favorite thing about brownies and sometimes hard to achieve with no butter!) and the extra melty chunks of dark chocolate with the bold flavor of the bourbon soaked cherries. These were a huge hit, and the entire pan was gone in one evening!

Bourbon Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 9 large or 16 small brownies

Serving Size: 1 brownie

Bourbon Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

3/4 cup cherries, pitted
Approx 1/2 cup bourbon
5.5 ounces dark chocolate, melted
1/2 cup nonfat coffee yogurt*
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate covered cherries**

Instructions

Place cherries in a wide shallow bowl. Cover with bourbon and soak for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9" square pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, slowly stir yogurt into melted chocolate. Whisk in sugar, then whisk in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Gently fold in flour until just combined. Strain soaked cherries (save the extra liquid and make yourself a drink!) and fold in soaked cherries and dark chocolate covered cherries.
Transfer to prepared baking tin and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan then serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

*Vanilla yogurt may be substituted. The coffee enhances the chocolate flavor. I suggest adding 1 tsp espresso powder if you use vanilla yogurt. **I found dark chocolate covered cherries at Trader Joe's. You can always use dark chocolate chunks instead, or add more fresh cherries.

http://www.arismenu.com/bourbon-cherry-dark-chocolate-brownies/

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Dark Chocolate, Cherries & Coconut

January 14, 2013 · by Ari · 8 Comments

Friends, these are not the prettiest cookies I’ve ever made.

In fact, when I made them for our first Ragnar team meeting, I almost didn’t serve them because I didn’t love the look, but as I kept reaching over, and over, and over for the pieces of the uglier ones I planned to throw away, I realized they were so delicious, I just had to save them, and post about them, pretty or not.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but this February I will be running Ragnar Del Sol with 11 other amazing ladies! The line up includes Nicole, Karla, Melissa, Megan, Tara, Stacey, Jaime, Bety, Jennifer, Jenn, and Kelli. I am sosoSO excited! We had our first official meeting a couple of weeks ago, and did a potluck at my house, so of course I called dibs on making dessert. 😉 Tara and Jaime don’t eat gluten or dairy, so I wanted to make something that everyone would be able to enjoy.

So I did end up serving my visually-challenged cookies, and I’m even sharing them with you, because I love them. They are so chewy, and packed with flavor. In true Ari style, there is definitely a lot going on, which leads to my new longest title ever (I think?), but it all comes together perfectly in a way that rather than tasting each component, you taste the combination as a whole.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Dark Chocolate, Cherries & Coconut

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
3 tbsp apple butter
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cornstarch
dash salt
1/3 cup reduced fat unsweetened shredded coconut
3 cups raw oats (use gluten-free if you care about that sort of thing)
6 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped into chunks (I used 2 bars—a coconut dark chocolate and a sea salt dark chocolate)
3/4 cup sweet cherries, pitted and chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
In a large bowl, beat together coconut oil, apple butter, peanut butter, and sugars until smooth. Add almond milk, vanilla, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and coconut, and beat until well combined. Fold in oats, followed by chocolate, cherries and coconut.
Use a small cookie scoop to drop batter onto prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart (these spread quite a bit).
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool completely on baking sheet before transferring to serve.

**Notes: These cookies are very sticky. I don’t recommend sealing them for storage. You also don’t want to crowd them. They work best unstacked in a large Tupperware with the lid resting on top, but unsealed.