Although I tend to shop and cook seasonally, when you’re promoting a cookbook, you’re at the mercy of your book’s offerings and the recipes that members of the media/class participants/event planners select for their publication or special event. This means I sometimes have to make figs in a blanket in winter or, in this case, tangerine-lemongrass mimosas in June.

I hit the Trader Joes, which sells a delicious tangerine juice in the refrigerated section. But there was not a drop of juice to be found, nor a tangerine on the produce shelf. The sales clerk explained that for a few short weeks each spring there are absolutely no tangerines to be found for juice or otherwise.

I tried a farm stand I like, which happens to make its own fresh juices in hopes of snagging some whole fruit. Nada.

Next I tried a major chain supermarket, remembering that Dole makes an orange-tangerine blend. I figured that would do in a pinch. But alas, it seems that Dole was also sans tangerines.

So I strolled the juice drink aisle in desperation. And I found a new V8 product called Passion Fruit Tangerine Fusion. “Why not?” I thought. I also purchased fresh-squeezed OJ figuring I could blend it all together to make something more citrus-y.

I tried following the recipe for The Love Diet Tangerine-Lemongrass Mimosas exactly but using V8 instead of tangerine juice. With a little squeeze of lemon to add a bite, the drink was as good, if not better than the original. (In fact, when I served the leftovers to friends a few days later, adding a shot of pure passion fruit concentrate to the blend, the result was practically orgasmic.)

Best of all, the V8 layered additional nutrition to the drink–one of the main goals of The Love Diet program! By adding the juice blend to Champagne, each mimosa offered a half a serving of vegetables. Imagine, getting your veggies while drinking Champagne. Genius!

The experiment made me realize that the gift of The Love Diet could keep on giving. As I modify recipes to save time, money, replace forgotten ingredients or just stave off boredom, I could share them with readers.

Its so simple, really. Using the instantaneous communication of the Internet, The Love Diet can give readers something almost as useful as the book’s original contents: ways to modify recipes when they’re missing, allergic to or simply don’t like an ingredient.

In the book we encourage home cooks to try the recipe once the way it is written and then feel free to improvise on the second try. But I know many people aren’t comfortable, nor are they successful with improvisation.

So stay tuned for The Love Diet’s secrets to ingredient swapping. For a teaser, try my mimosas with V8 Fusion. Your body will thank me for that extra serving of veggies at cocktail hour.