I want to prepare an easy dessert that can be made in less than 10 minutes. I must also use up the excess of blueberries and raspberries I purchased from the Farmer's Market.

I found an easy recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine website that uses berries and combines them with a simple vanilla bean-infused syrup made from the seeds of a vanilla bean.

I'm not a vanilla bean connoisseur, and I've taken it for granted that when I buy a vanilla bean there will be seeds in the pod. That being said, what happens when you buy a fresh vanilla bean and there are no seeds?

I had several choices for vanilla bean purchases at Whole Foods. My purse dictated my choice and I chose the least expensive vanilla bean from Indonesia. When I sliced it open, there were no seeds. I checked a website for Indonesian vanilla beans and in the photo, it appears there is, indeed, no seed. I, therefore, cut the vanilla bean into 1/2-inch pieces and proceeded with the recipe.

I'm providing you with the recipe that was inspired by Fine Cooking. I only used raspberries and blueberries in my recipe, doubled the syrup and gave the option of using a whole vanilla bean. I also served my berries with an addition of plain Fage Greek strained yogurt sweetened with additional yogurt syrup with a garnish of fresh mint.

Yield: 4-6 servings Time to chill syrup: 1 hour Active Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 vanilla bean 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup water 2 pint (4 cups) fresh raspberries 2 pints (4 cups) fresh blueberries 1/2 cup Greek strained, plain yogurt Several mint leaf sprigs

Directions

1. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp paring knife and scrape out the seeds with the back of the knife. If there are no seed in the bean, chop half of the bean into 1/2-inch pieces. 2. Put the seeds or chopped pod in a small saucepan, along with the sugar and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 7 minutes to let the vanilla infuse. Strain through a fine sieve to remove any fibrous pieces of vanilla pod or clumps of seeds. Let cool and refrigerate until completely chilled. The mixture should be a thick syrupy consistency. 3. Rinse the raspberries and blueberries. Just before serving, combine all the berries in a large serving bowl and gently toss with vanilla syrup to taste, reserving 1-2 tablespoons for yogurt. Sweeten yogurt with vanilla syrup to taste. 4. Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yogurt and fresh mint sprigs.