Papaya Smoothie Recipe (Sinh To Du Du)

Sinh tố đu đủ literally translates in Vietnamese to papaya (đu đủ) vitamin (sinh tố). I've made sinh tố bơ in the past with creamy avocado, but I got my hands on a beautiful papaya, so I made this version instead. You can also make many variations of the Vietnamese drink such as jackfruit, durian or mango depending on what you have on hand. The usual sweetener is sweetened condensed milk. You can blend the fruit with either yogurt, soy milk, regular cow's milk, coconut milk or coconut water.

I love wandering through ethnic markets. They're a great place to find interesting ingredients to develop new recipes. This weekend, my husband Lulu and I went to Mi Pueblo supermarket in East Palo Alto after a trip to the nearby Home Depot. Along with the beautifully ripe papaya, which reminded us of our last trip to Cancun, I found nopales (cactus), exotic banana varieties and the best horchata I’ve had in a long time. On top of that, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. I’m definitely going back for more great Mexican ingredients.

How to Make Horchata (Cinnamon Rice Milk Drink Recipe)

I actually first discovered horchata during a 1993 summer family vacation in Valencia, Spain. We loved the drink so much, we drank liters and liters of the delicious, cool, sweet horchata. That particular variety was made with tiger nuts, but there are many variations that are made with nuts and grains such as rice, blanched ground almonds, sesame seeds or barley. It all depends on which region the beverage comes from.

I’ve had the rice-based version several times at Mexican restaurants recently, and I’ve been itching to learn how to make it at home. The recipe requires patience but is worth the wait. I’m definitely going to be bringing a big jug of this to the next family picnic!

Medicinal Tea Recipe (Natural Cold Remedy Drink)

Ginger rice tea drink is our natural way to treat the beginning of a cold. On top of being delicious, the drink contains all the ingredients that are tought of as healing in Asian culture. I thickened the drink using the starch from rice and flavored it with fresh ginger, honey and turmeric.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you've probably noticed that my husband Lulu and I have been traveling quite a bit. We were in Las Vegas last week and we left last Saturday for to go to Texas. Lulu felt a little under the weather, so just before leaving I concocted this delicious ginger drink so he could be completely energized for our next trip. I'm certainly no doctor, but at the very least it cheered him up!

Pumpkin Protein Drink Recipe

I think if he could, my husband would drink pumpkin pie. He already inhales it every Thanksgiving! So this pumpkin protein drink is about as close as it gets to making his dreams come true. It's an ultra easy breakfast to make when you're on the go, and it’ll get you in the mood for the soon-to-be holiday season.

The drink is packed with vitamins, protein (I added soy protein) and calcium, making it markedly healthier than the real deal, and perfect for vegetarians like my husband Lulu.

Prickly Pear Juice Recipe (Cactus Fruit)

Prickly pears are the fruit of the nopales cactus plant. They're named for their pear-like shape and size. The texture and aroma of the fruit is very similar to grainy watermelon, with a mild sweetness. The seeds from the prickly pears look the same as the ones from kiwis.

This weekend, my father-in-law (I call him Daddy), my husband Lulu and I were sitting on the swing in the garden. Daddy noticed the fruit on the cactus plants in the corner of our garden. When we got closer we realized that the prickly pears were fully ripe. Daddy got so excited that I didn't have time to run and get leather gardening gloves; he just picked the fruit with his bare hands. Poor Daddy! I had to spend quite a bit of time to remove all of the almost invisible hair-thin spines.

We were able to gather a fair amount of ripe fruit. Even though the fruit is quite bland, the flesh has a very rich color. I used some for making vinaigrette and with the rest I made little cocktails with raspberries. I placed fresh raspberries in the freezer and used them as ice cubes to chill the drink. If you can get your hands on some prickly pears at your local market, give them a try. They're a wonderful treat.