Have you heard of orthorexia nervosa? For those who haven’t – it is defined as an eating/mental disorder characterised by preoccupation with avoiding food perceived to be unhealthy. Over the past few years our society has formed a slight obsession with healthy eating, counting calories and various dietary inventions, which all seem to be labelled as”the best/healthiest”. To name a few:  Atkins diet, vegetarian (being the most harmless), pescetarian, vegan, raw-food-diet and saving the best for last – fruitarianism (these people literally only eat what naturally falls from a plant). What happened to simply enjoying food? I am fully aware that eating meat on a daily basis isn’t at all sustainable and shouldn’t be done. However, I could never give up any type of food, especially not animal derived products. But, being a foodie, from time to time I take an interest in these bizarre diets. A non-vegan friend of mine recently had an interest in trying to make a vegan dessert – she chose vegan banana ice-cream. Imagine succeeding in making super healthy and ultimately tasty ice cream without animal fat?? Sadly, it was a bad introduction to veganism. Some things are just not meant to be recreated without animal products. What is ice cream without cream (and no – coconut milk/cream does not count as a substitute when taking the penetrating, lingering, out of place coconut flavour into account!)?? Well, basically frozen mashed fruit, so frozen baby food. YUMMY. NOT. I mean, it was actually quite tasty, I love mashed banana, but seriously, how is this ice cream?

After this experience, in an attempt to make a non-vegan healthier version of ice-cream, I decided to try making frozen yoghurt. Bought frozen yoghurt is definitely just as satisfying as full on italian gelato (unlike vegan frozen mashed fruit) and healthier. So I figured home made fro-yo was worth the try. It was – not quite as creamy (sadly, I don’t have an ice-cream maker so creaminess is hard to achieve) as bought fro-yo, but definitely delicious and enjoyable. Still not ice-cream, but a much better alternative to the failed vegan attempt.

Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

makes 500ml

You’ll need
2.5 cups of chopped hulled strawberries
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
0.5 tbsp rum or Grand Marnier
0.5 vanilla pod, seeds
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup plain greek yoghurt

1. Place your chopped strawberries, lemon juice and zest, alcohol, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and mix. Leave to marinade in the fridge for about an hour.
2. Place your strawberries into a food processor, add the yoghurt and process. Adjust the taste by maybe adding more lemon or vanilla or sugar.
3. Transfer your mixture into a freezable container and refrigerate for one hour. Once refrigerated, either churn in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions or freeze in the freezer.
4. If freezing without an ice cream maker, remove the lid of your container and cover with cling film. Now replace the lid. After 2 hours, take the fro-yo out of the freezer and whisk thoroughly (this is to prevent ice crystals from forming). Return to the freezer. Repeat 1 more time. Freeze until serving time. If you feel the fro-yo is too hard to serve, let it “defrost” in the fridge for 15 minutes before scooping.
5. Serve plain or with a choice of toppings: strawberries, almonds, chocolate, whatever you desire.

Rating: 8.5/10