Summer Coolers

The heat of summer can have us reaching for the cold and creamy... commonly in the form of ice cream.

To satisfy the craving in other ways, keep cold apple sauce or your favorite yogurt in the refrigerator. Often a serving of these moist cooling foods will meet your needs. For a cooling crunch, freeze fresh blueberries and eat them right out of the freezer. This is also the perfect time to get creative with smoothies.

Blueberry Smoothie

recipe from: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

3 cups of water

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 pitted dates

1 Tbls. pure vanilla extract

In a blender, blend 2 cups of water with berries, nuts, dates and vanilla until smooth. Add last cup of water and blend again.

Will keep for 3 days in fridge

Mango Smoothie

recipe from: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

3 cups of water

2 mangoes, peeled & cubed

1/4 cup almonds

1/2 cup pitted dates

1 Tbls. pure vanilla extract

In a blender, blend 2 cups of water with mango, nuts, dates and vanilla until smooth. Add last cup of water and blend again.

Will keep for 3 days in fridge.

Creamy Coconut Pudding

recipe from: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

2 cups cashews

1.5 cups water

1/4 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup shredded dried coconut

Blend water and cashews until smooth. Add coconut and dates and blend again until smooth.

Will keep for 3 days in fridge.

Banana Ice Cream

4 ripe large bananas

2 Tbls. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Peel & cut bananas into chunks. Spread chunks on a plate and freeze for 1 hour. Place in food processor/ blender with vanilla and cinnamon. At first, process in "burst mode" until bananas soften and then process continuously until creamy smooth.

Top with either chopped walnuts, tahini paste, or maple syrup.

Serve immediately.

Variations: add cacao powder and agave nectar, add berries, or add spirulina.


Chunky Monkey variation:
2 frozen bananas 
1 tsp vanilla extract
Handful of walnuts
1 tsp cocoa nibs (or 4-5 squares of dark chocolate.) 


Blend in blender until creamy. Voila! Ice cream on a hot day.