Sweet Basil Smoothie

I am not a big smoothie person, but Hubby loves them (really anything in the ice cream/shake family), so I had seen this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network website and thought I would give it a try.

So glad I did, because this is a fantastic smoothie. Absolutely delicious. The lemon is bright and the basil gives it a nice kick. This is a great summer treat. I actually halved this recipe, which also meant halving the simple syrup and it worked out perfectly.

Sweet Basil Smoothie

1 1/4 cups plain yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups lemon simple syrup*
1 cup ice

In a blender, combine yogurt, basil, simple syrup and ice. Blend until smooth & frothy. Pour into frosted glasses & serve immediately.

Lemon Simple Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

In a small saucepan, combine water, sugar and lemon zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sugar has desolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool, about 20 minutes. Strain before using (I did not).

3 Palms

While in St. Maarten, we went to a new restaurant - 3 Palms. 3 Palms is located on the lagoon. Its very modern and fun - done in neutrals and bright greens. There is an inside portion to the restaurant, but there is also an open air porch (where we sat). Both the service and food here were amazing.

The wine list is small, but very inexpensively priced. They have a fantastic cocktail list, with so many great sounding concoctions, it makes it hard to decide.

For starters, we had the crab and conch cakes, which were delicious. We also had the tuna tartare and the calamari - both were wonderful.

For entrees, our party had the tartare trio, the pork tenderloin (one of their specialties - wrapped in bacon with sun dried tomatoes, mascarpone and cream sauce), a Parmesan crusted lamb special and the grouper. Every plate was fabulous and wonderful portion sizes.