Healthy Summer Recipes

July 03, 2017

I love summer time. I love sitting outside at night in balmy weather, I love how the humidity curls my hair, I love cooling off in a pool and I love summer food!

Good-bye hearty crock pot stews, hello light, easy and breezy!

Here's a few recipes that we made over the weekend. Let me know what delicious summer meals you're cooking up at your place at the moment.

Tom n avo salad

summer spicy tomato and avo salad This is one of our summer time favorites and a variation of our tom and avo salad graces our dinner table at least once a week.

Roughly chop 4 fresh tomatoes, 2 avocados and 1/4 red onion in a bowl. Squeeze over the juice from a whole lemon, cracked pepper and a good dose of Kaitaia Fire Chili Pepper Sauce.

The tomato, avocado and lemon cool the hot sauce so this salad has got a spicy flavor without being killer hot. We usually eat this as a side dish, but it's also great on crackers.

Cold brew tea

cold brew tea 2 Cold brewing tea works best with loose leaf tea (you can snip open a tea bag and use the insides if you don't have loose leaf on hand).

Use about a teaspoon of tea for each cup depending on how strong you like your tea. Cover and keep in the refrigerator. Steep green tea for about 6 – 8 hours although black tea and oolong will need a little longer, about 8 – 10 hours.

Before serving strain out the tea leaves and add in your flavor of choice: slices of lemons, fresh mint leaves or honey. I like it best with lots of ice.

Coconut vanilla ice cream

coconut vanilla ice cream This is a simple, 3 ingredient, dairy free ice cream. You could use it as a base and blend in other flavors but my trusty taste testers said they loved the coconut vanilla flavor just as is.

Blend on high until smooth and creamy, 2 cans of coconut cream, ½ cup raw sugar (or an alternative sweetener), a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of vanilla paste so that you get real vanilla speckles through it.

If you have an ice cream maker follow the manufacturer’s directions. I had to make mine manually, so I put the mixture in a freezer and every hour for about 6 hours I'd pull it out, give it a whisk and put it back in to freeze some more.

Spicy potato salad

waha wera potato salad This was something new we tried this weekend. It's my spin on an old classic and I was really pleased with how it came out.

Boil half a sack of baby potatoes until done and let cool (I used those colored combo packs). In a small bowl whisk into a sauce: 1 tablespoon of Waha Wera hot sauce, 1/4 cup mayonnaise (or vegannaise), 1 tablespoon mustard and ground black pepper. Then into a big bowl, pop the potatoes cut into chunks, a couple of sliced spring onions, 1/4 finely diced red onion, a cup of defrosted frozen peas (green or red pepper would be good too). Pour the sauce on top, combine and enjoy!

Just like our beloved tom and avo salad, there is a bit of a kick but it's tempered by the potatoes and peas so it's got a super interesting flavor without the mouth burn!

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

manuka honey lime salad What would summer cuisine be without fruit! Feel free to use whatever your favorite fruit is for this one. I used some of our favorites: strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, bananas and kiwis. For the sauce, combine 2 tablespoons of honey and the juice of a lime in a bowl. Whisk and pour over the fruit.

Delicious and healthy (and don't let on to the kids, but I just finished the leftovers for breakfast this morning)

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