With the advent of summer, we think of myriad ways to beat the heat and take a chill pill. The intolerable heat not withstanding, we still enjoy the summer to the fullest, thanks to frozen desserts, which cater to our incorrigible sweet tooth. Ask anyone what they look forward to most during summer, and most of them will go for food in general and frozen delights in particular. But they are also laden with a whole lot of sugar, which we all know does immense harm to our bodies. Now if we substitute all those unhealthy drinks with all natural drinks and juices, which are healthy and quite high on the taste radar as well, then hopefully we will satiate our sweet tooth and also nourish our body with the right nutrients.
drinks jeera water:
Ingredients
- akher gur/molasses/jaggery – 1/2 cup
- sugar – 2 tablespoon
- water – 4 cups
- tamarind/tetul pulp – 2 tablespoon
- bit lobon/black salt – 1/2 teaspoon or to tast
- roasted cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
- lemon juice – 2 tablespoon
- for garnishing:
- lemon slices – as required
- Ice cubes – as required
- fresh mint leaves – as required
Instructions
- in a small saucepan mix sugar, gur and one cup of water. bring to boil until dissolve.
- remove from heat and let it to cool.
- in a blender add sugar sugar – gur water, tamarind/tetul pulp, black salt, lemon juice. blend 3-4 second.
- adjust salt and sugar. strain jeera pani with a strainer.
- take your serving glasses, drop some ice cubes, lemon slice and pour the prepared jeera pani.
- garnish with some mint leaves.
- serve chilled!!
Green Mango Iced Tea:
Ingredients
- Raw Mango/Green Mango – 1 boiled
- Black Tea – 4 teaspoon
- Sugar – 4-5 tablespoon or to taste
- Ginger – 2 teaspoon chopped
- Fresh mint leaves – 5 tablespoon chopped
- Lemon juice – 2 tablespoon
- Ice cube – 10-12
- Water – 4 cups
- Ice cool water – 4 cups
Preparation:
- Peel and mash the boiled green mango. Remove the seed and keep aside.
- Heat 4 cups of water, ginger and sugar until boil.
- Add black tea and boil two minutes. Turn off flame and add mint leaves. Cover for a couple of minutes. Let them completely cool. Strain and keep aside.
- Take a jug, pour cooled tea water, mashed green mango, lemon juice and ice cooled water. Mix with a spoon. Strain and keep into refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Take serving glasses and place ice cubes.
- Pour cooled tea water into glasses. Garnish with chopped mint leaves.
- Serve chilled immediately.
Kacha Aam Sharbat – Roast green mango juice:
Ingredients:
1. Roast green mangoes
2. Ice water
3. Cardammon
4. Sugar
Preparation
1 Roast green mangoes on slow fire direct flames in ancient days when Indian women cooked using charcoal, they placed these mangoes in it and roasted them. That is believed to make the best tasting Aam Panna recipe. But now we can use the Oven to do the same or use top of a gas burner to roast the mangoes until they are black and the inside the pulp gets softened. Mangos also can be boiled but taste will vary.
2 Soak the charred mango in an ice water bath (this helps the skin come off ) Then simply peel the skin off and keep the mango side.
3 Mix with spices and sugar in the blender. You can also add cardammon if you lime the flavor
4. Add ice and crush it if your blender tolerates the work.
5. Add the desirde amount of water to give it the perfect concentration at your taste
6. Decorate with mint leaves for garnishing
Grapefruit Smoothie
Grapefruits are a thirst quencher and full of anti-oxidants, it is also a great fruit which aids in weight-loss! The inclusion of the berries takes its antioxidant quotient a couple of notches higher.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups pink grapefruit juice
- 3/4 cup wild blueberries
- 1/2 cup organic strawberries
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 kiwi, peeled (optional)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 frozen bananas
- 1 fresh banana
- 1 cup soy, almond milk or oat milk
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 heaping Tbsp. almond butter
- optional: 1/4 cup ice or frozen watermelon cubes
- optional: 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Add all ingredients into a superfast blender and blend away.
Cocoa Banana Shake
A frozen banana can be the creamiest of desserts. This one is a delectable wonder. Gulp it down for your own good!
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. vegan cocoa mix
- 2 cups vanilla soy/hemp/coconut ice cream
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup vanilla soy milk
- 1/4 cup ice cubes
- 1 frozen banana (optional)
- Blend until it’s super smooth.
Dates Smoothie
Dates are full of natural sugars. Not to forget they are full of vitamins and minerals. Blend these natural ingredients to get a creamy and delicious drink.
Ingredients:
- 2 frozen bananas
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
- 5 dates, chopped
- drizzle: 2 tsp. date syrup
- garnish: 1 date, thinly sliced
- Blend until smooth. Pour and serve.
Mixed Fruit Punch
Fruits are the healthiest resources of sugar and this juice can give you a healthy dose of antioxidants.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups diced stone fruit, (apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines)
- 2 cups apricot juice
- 2 cups sparkling cider
- 1 cup seltzer
- Combine the fruits, cider, and seltzer and enjoy the delicious fruit punch!
Refreshing Orange Juice
Increase your vitamin C intake with this lovely juice filled with the goodness of oranges, carrots, grapefruits, and beets.
Ingredients:
- 2 Oranges
- 4 Carrots
- 1 Grapefruit
- 1 Small Yellow Beet
- Combine all, and blend well. Ice the sparkling fluid and guzzle away.
Mango Juice
The king of all fruits, it is in the favorites list for most of us. This summer, refresh yourself with this cool drink.
Ingredients:
- 4 Carrots
- 1 Apple
- 1 Mango
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Zucchini
- 1/4 Fennel
- Blend for a super sweet and nutritious drink.
Melon Punch
If you are not too fond of broccoli, add it to your juices and get the nutrients from your glass of juice!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup watermelon
- 1 apple
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 1/2 large beet
- 3 carrots
- 4 pieces of broccoli
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/4 fennel bulb
Blend all the ingredients till they are smoothly blended.
The Green Juice
Whenever we think of green juices we put it down as healthy, but definitely not tasty! But if you use the right herbs, you will give the drink a nice flavor and cool down your parched throat during the hot, sunny weather.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cucumber, chopped
- 1 head of chard
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 2 green apples, chopped, with cores removed
- 1-inch ginger, peeled
- 1 handful parsley
Tomato Juice
Rev up your day with this lycopene-enriched drink. The zest of ginger adds the right punch to this effervescent drink.
Ingredients:
- Red Ripe Tomatoes – 4 chopped
- Ginger – a small piece
- Sugar – 2 to 3 tbsp
- Salt – a pinch
- Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tsp.
- Lemon Juice – 1 to 2 tbsp
- Water as needed
- Ice cubes as needed
Method:
- Take all the ingredients except ice cubes in a blender, puree till smooth.
- Sieve this mix, add more water if needed.
- Put a few ice cubes in a cup, pour in juice and serve immediately.
Grape juice
A black grape juice makes for a cool drink in sultry afternoons. Also, if you are not on great terms with your weighing machine, skip the sugar, use honey, or blackstrap molasses, for your sugar fill.
Ingredients:
- Seedless Black Grapes-1 cup
- Sugar-2 tbsp
- Lemon juice-1 tbsp
- Ice cubes
Method:
- In a blender, put grapes, sugar, lemon juice, ice cubes and blend it until smooth.
- Use a large holed sieve to strain the juice and use a spoon to press the pulp and extract as much juice as possible.
- Pour into a glass and serve chilled.
Strawberry Smoothie
Wake up and smell the coffee! Isn’t that what you do everyday? Wake up and get your caffeine fix? Well, that’s what you do most mornings and some even skip breakfast as they don’t have time to sit down over a heavy breakfast. No sweat, because you can smoothie your way to health, by churning up this awesome recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 quart (4 cups) ripe strawberries
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 thin orange slices (optional)
Method:
- Hull all but 4 of the strawberries. Add the hulled strawberries to a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients as yogurt, orange juice, and sugar. Keep processing on the highest speed until well-blended puree forms. You can sweeten according to your taste.
Pour into tall glasses. Slit the 4 whole strawberries and the orange slices halfway through the centers. Fix strawberry and orange slices at the rim of the glass.
Watermelon Frosty
Now here’s another fruit that’s absolutely perfect for the summer. One bite of a fresh and juicy watermelon instantly gives you a refreshing feeling. We all know how watermelon is made up of mostly water, so it’s the go-to fruit for those who are feeling extra thirsty. On top of that, watermelon is loaded with fiber, potassium, and lycopene.
Ingredients:
2½ cups frozen watermelon, cubed
½ cup coconut water
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 large lemon or 2 limes, squeezed
1 banana, chopped
Method:
Simply place all ingredients into a high-speed blender and mix until fully incorporated. Serve and enjoy!
Avocado Mango Smoothie
What is it about avocado that is making everyone go gaga over the fruit? Alpha-linolenic acid and oleic acids are the two important fats required by the body, and avocado is full of that! It’s also full of vitamins and minerals, which make it a very nutritious fruit. Add to that the richness of mango, and you get a must-have drink for summer.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chopped ripe mango
- 1/4 Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1/2 cup mango sorbet
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup crushed ice
- 2 mango slices, 1/2-inch thick
- 1 lime slice
Method:
- In a blender, combine the chopped mango, avocado, sorbet, milk, honey, lime juice, and ice. Blend on high until smooth.
- Pour into a tall glass. Slit the sliced mango and the sliced lime halfway through to the centers. Fix them to the rim of the glass before serving.
Breakfast Smoothie
If you are always racing against time and losing on valuable nutrients from food, this smoothie on the go can help you fix your nutrient needs pretty well.
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup (185 ml) orange juice
- ½ cup sliced banana
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ice cubes
- Mint sprig
Method:
- In a blender, combine orange juice, banana, sugar, and almond extract. Add ice cubes and blend until thick and smooth. Garnish with mint sprig.
Beet and Yogurt Smoothie
Can you ever have enough of yogurt in summers? There’s something about this creamy white food that cools us, just at the sight of it. And it’s such a healthy thing to add to your summer smoothies. Full of probiotics and calcium, you can find new and novel ways of adding yogurt to your diet.
Ingredients:
- 150g cooked beetroots, coarsely chopped
- 60g fresh or frozen raspberries
- 250ml cranberry juice, chilled
- 225g low-fat plain yogurt
- Chilled raspberries, to garnish (optional)
Method:
- In a food processor or blender, purée beetroot, raspberries, and cranberry juice until smooth.
- Pour purée through a strainer into a large jug. Whisk in most of the yogurt.
- Pour into four glasses and top with remaining yogurt. Garnish with extra raspberries, if you like. Serve immediately.
Cucumber Juice
Cucumber is full of water and has very few calories. So, as it is cucumber must be added to your summer diet to cool your body and also to stock on the all-important vitamins and minerals. The addition of kale and bell peppers can make it your go-to drink this summer.
Ingredients:
- 1 cucumber
- 3 to 5 celery stalks, bottoms removed
- 2 to 3 kale leaves
- 1 yellow bell pepper (yellow capsicum)
- Handful of basil (3 to 4 leaves)
- ½ lemon, peeled (optional)
Method:
Wash the cucumber, celery, kale, bell pepper, and basil. Remove the top and seeds from the bell pepper and cut into pieces that will fit through your juicer. Run all ingredients through your juicer, and enjoy its rich goodness!
With the advent of summer, we must nourish ourselves with all kinds of juices and fluids to sustain the long and arduous season. Having juices and smoothies is a wonderful way to keep yourself hydrated and your thirst quenched. So, find novel ways of including, best healthy fruit and vegetable drinks. Cool off and slake your thirst with these refreshing drinks.