BY: EARTHA LOWE
You might be “Feelin hot hot hot” as the temperature rises this summer and will want to comfort yourself with a cool, healthy beverage. Well, making “real food juices” can be a refreshing ritual to beat the heat while nourishing your body. By juicing or blending a variety of fruits and vegetables into enticing combinations, the recipe will make your healthy diet a pleasure. Take the taste of a mojito for example. If you enjoy the flavours of a mojito, sample it alcohol-freeby juicing together: 1large seedless cucumber; 2 ½cups seedless green grapes; ¼cup packed fresh mint and 1lime, peeled. This juice mimics the mint and lime flavours of a traditional mojitoand tastes delicious served over crushed ice. For the cocktail enthusiast, use this delicious juice as a mixer. Cheers!
Blueberry lemonade and popsicles
Honor yourself and your guests, by making an elixir of beautiful fruits and veggies. Natural, fresh, unique juices and blends, can be served as fabulous party fare. Serve this gorgeous purple cocktail blended with refreshing coconut water, grapes, blueberries, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, over crushed ice. It’s a classic summer cooler! Alternatively, make this refreshing cocktail into a classic frozen treat: popsicles.
You’ll need
- 1 ½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup fresh green grapes
- 2 – 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 cup natural coconut water (sugar-free, pulp free)
- Crushed ice for serving
Directions
Pour all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve with crushed ice.
To make the popsicles, pour the mix into popsicle moulds. Insert a popsicle stick in each one and place in the freezer. Freeze for at least 3 hours.
Tips for serving : Substitute the coconut water with sparkling water.
Mellow Mango
This gorgeous sunset-hued beverage is a puretropical flavour in a glass!
You’ll need
- 1large ripe mango, peeled and seeded
- 1large orange, peeled and seeded
- 1 banana
- Sparkling water (optional, as desired)
- Crushed ice for serving
Directions
Combine the mango, orange and banana in a blender and process until smooth. If you want a thinner drink, add the sparkling water and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Selecting produce for your juices
“Climacteric,” is a word used to describe fruits that can be picked when under-ripe and ripened later. Avocados, bananas, peaches, plums, cantaloupe, mangoes, kiwi, pears, persimmons and tomatoes are examples of climacteric fruits. When your favourites are in season, buy them as close to ripe as possible. Our palates crave the unique balance of sweet and tart that really good fruits provide, and we can play with that when we make our juices. Selecting the freshest, ripest fruits and vegetables is essential for great flavour and also for nutrition.
“Non-climacteric” fruits are not ripe when harvested and will never ripen. Fruits in this category include citrus (lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange), grapes, cherries, and melon (including watermelon).
Vegetables are a bit simpler to select. Look for firm and unblemished. Leafy greens should never be limp or slimy. Root vegetables like beets and carrots can be stored for longer periods. Unlike selecting good fruit, however, the harder the root vegetable, the better. If the skin of a root vegetable looks thick and rough, or they feel lighter than usual, that’s a sign that they’ve been sitting around too long.
