Strawberry Watermelon Slushie

Hi all– well, last week around here the temperature was in the high 90’s!  Real summer easing into September.  And I had the remnants of a watermelon from when our melon eating grand-girls were here.  So it seemed like the right idea to, but to whirl up this fresh cold drink.

I got the recipe from one of the most beautiful blogs I read every week.  Serena in Italy is an artist with her food photography and she posted this yummy recipe.  You can find her at http://foodfulife.com  . I think you’ll love her work.

STRAWBERY WATERMELON SLUSHIE
4 cups watermelon, cut in small chunks
3 cups strawberries, stems removed and cut in half
2 or 3 mint leaves

Cut up the watermelon and pop it into the freezer for 3 to 4 hours.

When the watermelon is frozen, then drop the strawberries, frozen watermelon and mint leaves into a blender and whirr it into a bright frozen slushie.  Makes two servings.

Pour it into a glass and drink it right on the spot!  So fresh and bright!

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Blackberry Iced Tea

Hello there–  Looking for a summery drink for our bridal shower last week and wandered across this fruity iced tea.  After a little smashing, steeping and blending, we ended up with pitchers full of slightly sweet, summer fresh tea.  We set out sugar and sweetener for those who wanted it, but I liked it just as it was–with lots of ice and a few berries and a sprig of mint to top it off.

BLACKBERRY ICED TEA
3  black tea bags
4 cups water
2 cups blackberries*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tab. mint leaves, chopped
2 cups cold water
more berries & mint leaves for garnish

In a large heat proof bowl, put in the blackberries, sugar and mint leaves.  Blend them with a stick blender (or in a regular blender–or smash them to bits with a lot of pounding with a wooden spoon!  — and then pour them in the bowl).

Then bring the 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add the tea bags to the heated water and let them steep for 5 minutes.  Then remove the tea bags and pour the tea over the berries.

Let the tea-berry mixture sit for 1 hour.  Then pour it through a strainer to strain out the uncrushed berry bits/seeds.

Add 2 more cups of cold water, cover the bowl and set the whole thing in the fridge to chill.  Serve the berry tea over lots of ice and garnish with each cup with a couple berries and a sprig of mint.

Makes about 8 glasses of very tea.  Hope you like it!

*2 cups of berries is about 12 oz. (2 6 oz. packs)

Chicken, Hominy & Avocado Salad

Hi all– I really didn’t know what to call this salad we had for dinner– So I just picked out my 3 favorite ingredients and tossed them into the title.  It does have a lot of other yummy things in there too, including a lime-cilantro dressing.  Use a roasted chicken from the market and it’s dinner on the table in 20 minutes.   Summer time dinner- easy, fast & fresh.

CHICKEN, HOMINY & AVOCADO SALAD
1/2  chicken from the market, already roasted*
6 cups of your favorite greens
14 oz. can yellow hominy**
1 avocado (or 2 if you love them as much as we do)
12 cup diced red bell pepper
14 cup radish, sliced thin

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large lime, juiced
a few shakes of salt
a few grinds of freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. sugar
3 tab. cilantro, chopped fine

Take the chicken off of the bone and chop it into nice little chunks>

Then on a pretty platter, layer the greens, chicken, hominy, avocado, red pepper and radishes.

Shake the dressing ingredients together in a container with a tight fitting lid until it is thoroughly blended.

Dress the salad just before you serve it-  Happy summer eating!!

*We used the other half of the chicken for tacos the next night.
** If you don’t know hominy — It’s in the Mexican section of the market– like BIG kernels of corn that have a potato-ish edge to their flavor.  I think it tastes nice & homey.

Watermelon & MInt

Hi there–  School starts tomorrow.   Good-bye lazy summer (sigh).  So to see summer out, we had friends come and join us for tacos last night.  Our narrow table was full to the brim with bowls of carnitas, beans & rice, of peppers, salsas & cheese…  So to sweeten up the menu, we also had a big bowl of watermelon, cold and summery.  This couldn’t be simpler.  I’m almost embarrassed to send it off as a “recipe.”  But it’s delicious, so here it is:

WATERMELON & MINT
1 medium watermelon cut into chunks (10 -12 cups, more or less)
2 tablespoons of mint leaves, cut to bits
a few shakes of salt.

Mix is all together.  And make sure it’s served ice cold straight from the fridge.  That’s it.
So easy & so good.