When mike’s LITE hard lemonade reached out to me about creating healthier takes on summer fare, I was more than up for the challenge! I decided to revamp two appetizers, one entrée and one dessert and did my best to make dishes made with wholesome, healthy ingredients that we can all feel good about eating!
And stay tuned at the bottom of this post (it’s a LONG one!) for an awesome giveaway!
Appetizers
For the appetizers, I created two different creamy dips that utilize Greek yogurt as the main ingredient: An almond butter and honey fruit dip and a savory veggie dip!
Both dips come together in a flash and can be made with ingredients you likely already have on hand. No fuss!
First up is the almond butter and honey fruit dip!
I served this dip with crunchy apples and sweet strawberries.
It was a hit!
Cinnamon Almond Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 2 cups fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup all-natural almond butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds (+ more for garnish, if desired)
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir together until completely combined
- Top with additional sliced almonds, if desired, and serve with fresh fruit
The veggie dip is super simple to make and only requires one mixing bowl, so dishes are minimal!
A quick note about this veggie dip: It’s also delicious as a sandwich spread! I love it on top of a whole wheat roll with avocado and turkey.
Savory Veggie Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped scallions
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir together until completely combined
- Serve with fresh vegetables and enjoy
Entreé
When I set out to create a healthy entrée, I wanted to make a delicious burger. I decided to use lean ground turkey as a base and knew I needed to add a lot of spice and flavor to the turkey to kick it up a notch. The end result was a tasty southwest burger that Ryan and I thought was fantastic!
I made these burgers for the first time over Mother’s Day weekend and again during a casual cook out at our house in Ocala. They were a hit on both occasions!
A little sliced avocado on top of the burgers make them even better!
Southwest Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
- 3/4 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
- 3 tablespoons salsa
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 avocado, sliced
Directions
- Combine all ingredients except for the sliced avocado
- Using your hands, squish everything together and mold into four patties
- Coat a sauté pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat
- Place the burgers in the pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side
- Top burgers with sliced avocado and desired toppings and enjoy
During our Sunday afternoon barbeque with friends, we all ate our burgers with the mike’s LITE hard black cherry lemonade. This flavor was new to me and I was excited to try it since I’ve enjoyed the original mike’s hard lemonade for years. (I’ve been using it to make an awesome sangria since college!)
After one sip of the mike’s LITE hard black cherry lemonade, I absolutely loved it! It’s sweet, refreshing and reminds me of the perfect poolside beverage.
It’s light and crisp and sweetened with a bit of honey which is right up my alley.
And here’s the quick and easy sangria recipe I’ve been making with mike’s hard lemonade for years, though I made it with mike’s LITE hard lemonade this time to stay with the “lightened up” theme of today’s post!
It’s incredibly easy to throw together in a flash and is a refreshing summertime sangria!
Lemonade Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 bottle white wine (Riesling or Moscato work well)
- 3 11.2-ounce bottles mikes LITE hard lemonade
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 pint fresh raspberries
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and refrigerate for approximately two hours.
- Pour into glasses, garnish with a lemon slice if desired and enjoy!
Note: You may also add lemon-lime soda or lemonade to taste for additional sweetness and lemon flavor.
Dessert
Dessert! My favorite course!
When I think of summertime desserts, ice cream immediately pops into my mind. I could easily eat a bowl of ice cream after every meal and never get sick of it, so that was the dessert I decided to tackle to try to make a little healthier. By using my favorite banana “soft serve” as a base, I added cacao powder and almond butter to the cold and creamy banana to make a dessert that only tasted indulgent!
Ryan and I both gobbled this up in no time at all and it definitely satisfied our sweet tooth in a healthier way!
Chocolate Almond Banana Soft Serve
Ingredients
- 5 frozen bananas, sliced (the riper the better!)
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder
- 3 tablespoons almond butter
Directions
- Place bananas and almond milk in a large food processor and blend until creamy, approximately 5 minutes
- Add cacao powder and almond butter and blend until combined
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy immediately
And now you’re hopefully all feeling a little hungry and ready to get cookin’ in the kitchen, so let’s move right along to the giveaway portion of this blog post!
Three PBF readers will win a $100 gift card to use at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients you will need to make your own lightened up version of your favorite summertime recipes.
Awesome, right!?
To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post by answering one (or both!) of the following questions:
- What is your favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout?
- What healthy dish do you like to bring to a summertime barbeque?
I will randomly select a winner on Monday!
Good luck!!!
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I love eating caprese salad at summer cookouts! So yummy. I like to bring homemade salsa to summer parties (especially mango avocado).
I like bringing fruit salads!
Those look delicious! My favorite barbecue dish is baked beans but I generally bring watermelon (or watermelon feta salad) for a healthy side-dish/dessert.
Watermelon is always the best!
I was prefer Water Melon, mouth watering! 🙂
I like to bring something paleo since that’s how i eat. most people can’t taste the difference and if they can, it’s not a bad difference, just out of curiosity! those dips look tasty!
Last summer I started making a new dish for summer barbeques made with corn, black beans, avocado, tomato, lime & cilantro. It’s fresh, tasty & can be a side dish or a dip!
I love making homemade guacamole (just a tad spicy)! With some blue corn chips. It’s always a hit. My favorite summertime food to eat is watermelon!
I love some type of burgers and fresh fruit!
I love any vegetable on the grill, particularly corn and eggplant
I love fresh watermelon and cantaloupe! I also like to grill veggies and pineapple.
I love any dish with vegetables. I can’t get enough.
Grilled vegetables- asparagus, onion and mushrooms!
I’m a huge fan of veggie burgers think even frozen ones taste SO much better on the grill! Yum! 🙂 but when it comes to summer barbeques with my friends I’ll be the one with the giant bowl of watermelon
I love to bring desserts!
I love eating my mother-in-law’s pasta salad! She doesn’t use mayo so its still lite but its filled with delicious vegetables! I love to bring plain watermelon to summer barbecue. It always reminds me of summer as a child!
I love corn on the cob! it’s the best especially when I’ve already filled up on watermelon!
My favorite dish at a BBQ is any type of baked beans! LOVE them!
I have been taking a light quinoa dish full of fresh veggies to parties lately. So many options!
my favorite summer dish is fruit salad! especially with watermelon 🙂 i love bringing veggies to grill, can’t go wrong with those!
I love grilling for cookouts – burgers, hot dogs and sausages. The classics are the best!
I like to bring Texas Caviar, which is basically a corn/black bean/tomato salsa. No matter how much I double or triple the recipe it always seems to disappear!
My favorite dish at a summer barbeque is fruit salad!
Can’t beat grilled chicken kabobs! I love bringing cornbread salad.
Frog-eyed salad or mustard potato salad!
anything with watermelon thrown in! could be in a drink like a smoothie or even as part of my meal like in salad!
Fruit salad – always fun to try different combinations based on what’s in season, and it’s always eaten.
I’m pretty easy to please with food — as long as it’s vegetarian I’ll try it! Although my favorite thing to bring to a picnic are vegan chocolate chip cookies!
I love grilled veggies at a summer cookout! I want to try that sangria!
This all looks delicious! I’d love to try the burgers.
My favorite dish is any kind of grilled vegetables. Grilling the vegetables really brings out the flavor! When I go to bbqs, I usually bring some type of salad. Lately my go-to recipe is a kale salad with a lemon-Dijon dressing.
Grilled veggies are favorite to eat and bring! I also love good summer fruit. 🙂
I love bringing a healthy homemade salsa to cookouts! Or a simple veggie tray.
Watermelon!!!
I like grilled veggies and veggie burgers (even the frozen from the box kind) cooked right on the grill (instead of the microwave). Mike’s Lite Hard is pretty much the only alcohol I enjoy the taste of!
I love grilled veggies and fresh fruit!!
Asparagus, sliced bell peppers and mushrooms all marinated in Light zesty Italian dressing and then grilled. Delicious!!
I LOVE grilled veggies and sangria:)
My favorite dish at summer cookouts is pasta salad! It’s so yummy and that’s usually the only place I eat it!
I love grilled veggies and my favorite healthy dish to bring is guacamole!
My favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout is always kabobs with extra grilled veggies!
Lately, I love to bring a cold Mexican quinoa salad..I usually add black beans, corn, chopped tomatoes, scallions/onions, avocado and a light honey/lime vinaigrette.
I am dying to try the burgers that you made!!
I love making a quinoa salad with tomatoes, black beans, corn, and avocados. Delicious and so good for you!
Corn on the cob!
My favorite dish at cookouts are definitely burgers! But I also enjoy having a delicious salad with strawberries to round out the meal 🙂
My favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout is definitely turkey burgers from the grill! And I like to bring fruit trays as a healthy dish (helps me avoid eating a thousand cookies!)
My favorite dish is by far the corn on the cob soaked in butter. So good but so bad! My favorite healthy dish is grilled watermelon. I don’t know why, but it’s good from the grill.
I love burgers at a cookout. They are not something I make on a typical weeknight and usually only have them at cookouts. Turkey, beef, chicken…any kind of burger makes me happy!
I love pretty much anything on the grill….YUM!!! I usually bring fresh fruit.
My all time favorite dish at a BBQ is cheesy hashbrown casserole! I try to lighten it up by using greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
I love black bean and corn salsa, turkey burgers and of course corn on the cob! LOVE summer!!!!