While winter is the time for reading books or watching you favourite TV shows with a cup of hot chocolate and biscuits, summer and fall should be for bathing, taking sun-bathes and having fun outdoors. Also it’s the perfect time to add more fruits and berries to your everyday ration, it’s the best time for those of us who can’t live without desserts but don’t want to gain weight. Be sure these ten desserts will healthfully indulge your sweet tooth!
10. Fruit salad
Actually there is no certain recipe of fruit salad. You can use any fruits you like: apples, pears, melon, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, seedless grapes; to add your salad more exotic taste you can use pine-apple, bananas, mangoes, kiwi fruit. If you’re a fan of fresh taste you can add some mint, balm or ginger. If you like spicy, feel free to dress your salad with cinnamon, anise, cloves or vanilla extract. The best dressing for your salad will be fresh orange/lemon/lime juice mixed with its zest. But please do not add sugar to it, the fruits and berries are already pretty sweet. In case salad will still taste sour to you – add some honey to the salad dressing, but not sugar. If you like dairy products you can make the dressing based on nonfat yogurt.
9. Berries, arugula and feta Salad
1,5 cup blackberries
1/3 melon
100g feta cheese
arugula
1 tsp olive oil
Ginger-honey dressing:
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
2 tsp grated ginger salt, pepper
If you want to add some extravagance to your salad feel free to use this recipe. Chop the melon and feta cheese into small slices, chop the arugula leaves roughly. Mix all the ingredients together and flavor them with already prepared ginger-honey dressing.
8. Spicy watermelon slices baked with feta
a half of a watermelon
feta cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
fresh mint leaves
It’s hard to believe but the hotness of cayenne pepper, the freshness of mint, the saltiness of feta cheese and the sweetness of watermelon (warmed and enhanced in the hot oven) create a perfect taste! So, cut a watermelon into triangle slices, chop mint leaves and feta cheese. Then arrange feta and mint into the watermelon’s slices, sprinkle them with the olive oil and cayenne pepper and pop in the oven preheated to 420°F for about 15 minutes.
7. Baked apples with topping
4 big apples
1 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp drawn butter
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg
Topping: 1 cup oats (uncooked) or 1 cup chopped nuts (for choice)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut the top of an apple, then cut out its core. Do not cut it all the way through. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice. Stuff the apples with chopped nuts or oats, butter and honey. Sprinkle them with cinnamon or nutmeg for your choice. Place apples in a baking dish, bake in preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.
6. Yummy pomegranate granita
3 cups unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/3 cup water
juice and zest of one large orange
1/2 cup light agave nectar
If you’re a serious ice-cream lover this pomegranate granita is right for you! Mix and shake up all the ingredients in a large jar/bottle or shaker, then pour the liquid mixture to a dish. Put it in the freezer and every hour or so scrape the granita with a fork in order to have a beautiful flaky consistency as a result, but not a frozen block of pomegranate ice. Serve the granita in little glasses, you can decorate it with a fresh mint springs or with candied orange peels.
5. Yogurt and berries popsicles
150g berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries etc)
1 ripe banana
600ml full-fat Turkish yogurt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
Separate yogurt into two portions. Take a smaller portion of yogurt (about 200ml) and mix it with berries and banana in a high-speed blender until smooth, take the remaining yogurt and mix it with vanilla and lemon juice. Fill the popsicle moulds to about 1/5 with the berries puree. Put it to the fridge for about 40 minutes until the puree begins to set. Fill up the popsicle moulds with the lemon-vanilla yogurt. Cover and insert the popsicle sticks. Freeze for 3-4 hours.
4. Tumeric lassi
2,5 cups organic yogurt
2 tsp ground turmeric (or fresh turmeric root)
2 bananas
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tsp honey
1/2 lemon, juice
1 tsp vanilla extract or ground vanilla
2 tsp rosehip powder
This dessert is not only a delicious one, but also extremely useful and immune boosting. And it’s easy and quick to prepare. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the lassi in the glasses and have a nice and healthy start of the day!
3. Cottage cheese smoothie
250g nonfat cottage cheese
1 unripe banana
1 peeled apple
1 tsp honey
If you’re a smoothie lover, you probably start your day with a glass of yummy smoothie. Here is one more recipe for you to start your day tasty and healthy! Combine banana, apple, honey and cottage cheese. Blend until smooth.
2. Seeds&Nuts balls
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
100g sesame seeds
1/2 cup prunes
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 cup mixed nuts (cashew, walnuts, hazel nuts, almond, cedar nuts etc – whatever you like)
2 tsp cacao
2tsp water
Mix nuts, seeds and dried fruits in a food processor or blander. Do not over-process, you need a little bit crunchy paste. If the paste is too dry, add more water. Roll the balls and place them in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes.
1. Avocado-chocolate mousse
1 ripe avocado
2 ripe bananas
4 tbsp cacao powder or more to taste
3 tbsp nut butter
1 tsp honey
This recipe will be a great surprise for all the Nutella lovers. This avocado-chocolate mousse is rather healthier but as much sweet and tasty as nutella chocolate pasta. So, place all the ingredients in a blender and puree them until mousse consistency. Place the mousse in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. You can it it with fresh raspberries or strawberries.