Sweeten your summer evenings with desserts that are perfect “on the Beach.” It’s really very easy to prepare a nutritious and delicious summery dessert with just a few ingredients. Here are 4 easy summertime dessert ideas:
-
Create
a chilled yogurt parfait.
Creamy nonfat (0%) Greek yogurt makes a healthy substitute for ice cream in a
parfait. On Phase 1, layer the yogurt with a quarter-cup of nuts of your
choice. You can also mix the yogurt with vanilla or almond extract for flavor,
sprinkle it with lime or lemon zest, or drizzle it with sugar-free chocolate
syrup, if desired. Season with ground cinnamon or nutmeg additional flavor.
When you’re on Phase 2, layer Greek yogurt with fresh summer fruit, such as
strawberries, blueberries, peaches, or nectarines, or a combination.
-
Grill
fruit kebabs. When on
Phase 2, try grilling fruit, which caramelizes its natural sugars and enhances
its flavor. Prepare a kebab using chunks of fresh fruit, such as apricots, plums,
nectarines, mangoes, peaches, or strawberries on metal or soaked wooden skewers.
Note that softer fruits like strawberries and apricots grill faster than harder
ones, like peaches or nectarines. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon, or
no-sugar-added chocolate powder. You can also melt dark chocolate to use for a
delicious fondue.
-
Flavor
with lemon or limes.
Fresh lemon or lime juice and zest make great additions to many summer
desserts. Try adding lemon or lime zest and vanilla extract to the classic
Phase 1 Ricotta Crème dessert.
- Prepare a frozen dessert. Freezing fruit is a great way to cool down on a warm summer evening. Get creative with your flavor combinations and experiment with summer fruits and herbs, such as mangoes with fresh basil or honeydew with fresh cilantro or mint. Prepare a homemade Italian ice by combining frozen raspberries, fresh mint leaves, lemon juice, and sugar-free syrup in a blender. Spoon the mixture into an ice cube tray and insert wooden ice pop sticks in the center of each. Place the trays in the freezer for 3 to 5 hours, until frozen. You can also add lemon zest or lemon juice to cheesecake or create your own lemon ices.
Try this refreshing homemade ice pop recipe.
