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!!!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Turkey burgers are by far my favorite cookout dish, but I hadn’t thought to add taco seasoning to them before! I’m excited to try it.
And, my favorite healthy dish to bring to a BBQ is definitely fruit kabobs! They are fun to make and all of the bright colors just look like summertime.
I love to bring fresh fruit and veggies – I will have to try your dips! People tend to just grab something quick at the grocery store, which ends up being chips and cookies -but hey, they have grab-and-go healthy stuff too! 😉
My favorite dish to enjoy is buffalo chicken dip with corn chips.. Amazingggggg! I usually try to bring a salad or veggie tray since that tends to be the only healthy option at get togethers.
Watermelon and feta salad! Works for the answer to both questions ha!
That Mike’s looks delicious!!!
My favorite for a summer barbecue is a chopped salad to share with everyone!
I love guacamole!!! Being from Maryland, I also love all things seafood. So, I make a crab guacamole with plenty of Old Bay…yummy in my tummy!!!!
I like to surprise people how good food can be healthy and light too, so I like to bring random appetizers like quinoa cups, lightened up guacamole, or fresh fruit salsa! That being said, my favorite summer meal = ice cream cake/pie… can’t live without it on my birthday. 😉
I really look forward to the vegetables my husband throws on the grill – mushrooms, onions, corn – it is so delicious! And my favorite thing to bring is something my friend calls “Charleston caviar” which is a mix of black beans, red onion, green peppers/red peppers, tomatoes and a splash of dressing. Serve with multigrain Tostitos – always a hit!
I love making turkey burgers as a healthier alternative!
Hummus! People never understand how easy it is to make at home!
Turkey burgers are the best at a summer cookout!
I love grilled veggie sandwiches during the summer.
My favorite dish for summer BBQ is any fresh, local fruit.
I love making watermelon juice for cookouts – so fresh, sweet, and cool. I just throw a lot of watermelon cubes into a pitcher and use my hand blender to give it a smoothie-like consistency. Add a little water (or lemonade) for the perfect summer juice.
Fruit salad is my favorite healthy option!
My favorite summertime dish is fruit salad! I love all the fresh fruit this time of year.
I love a good veggie burger! It’s always fun to see what ingredients people use. Most recent fav: chickpea curry!
I love a good caprese salad with avocado. Healthy and delicious! 🙂
I love chicken sausages on the grill.
Okay, I’m drooling now. 🙂 Burgers are my favorite BBQ indulgence! I don’t eat them often, so I really appreciate a homemade burger straight off the grill. Those turkey burgers look amazing!
There’s something about a lean slab of brisket that just screams summertime 🙂
As for the healthy dish, does ice count?? Just kidding- a light cole slaw is my go-to!
I have a cold corn salad I love to bring has a health side or dip. It like a yummy corn salsa that’s light and refreshing!
My favorite summer bbq dish is definitely german potato salad: bacon, onions and potatoes and none of that mayon business. I usually bring a nice caprese salad to a bbq, which is not only delicious but pretty healthy too!
My favorite cookout dish is a fresh fruit salsa served with cinnamon sugar pita chips! So delicious!
I love to take a big bowl of fresh fruit or a really light spinach salad. I know then that there is at least one healthy option!
I love to bring a nice fruit salad. I pretty much never eat potato chips, so it makes a nice accompaniment to the main meal both for me and anyone else trying to eat a little healthier.
Those turkey burgers look gorgeous!! Definitely one to make!
My favorite would be a spinach salad with blueberries, strawberries, pistachios, and dried cranberries, with Raspberry Vinagerette dressing!
I love a corn and black bean salad w/ avocado! Healthy but filling!
My favorite are vegetable salads (I love your chopped veggie salad recipe!) and bean dips/salads!
My favorite items to being are normally veggie or fruit salads! Can’t wait to try some of these recipes too!
German potato salad! Yum!!
Cucumbers with salsa. Light and refreshing for summer.
I love making a light kale salad with a lemon juice and champaign vingrette and sliced almonds!
I love the grilled veggies (corns the best!) and sweet potatoe fries! Yum! I would definitely try the burger! It sounds so good and I just had lunch!
I’m a sucker for chips and salsa!
It sounds all to simple but I love bringing fresh cut watermelon slices to summer BBQ’s! Who doesn’t love cool, juicy watermelon on a hot day?
Oh my goodness! My step-daughter’s Graduation Open House party is in a week, and for our after-party bon fire (because the parents should celebrate properly too, right?) I’m going to make your Lemonade Sangria! Thanks for sharing 🙂
One of my favorite annual cookouts is our traditional 4th of July party. We have friends on a lake, and every year the group gets bigger and bigger. (Last year was about 60 people!) We have a double decker pontoon boat (with a water slide on top), a HUGE slip and slide that goes into the lake, and of course AH-Mazing food. I love to chop up a watermelon, bananas and blueberries and make it look like the American Flag. It’s fun and festive and a great treat throughout the day of fun!
My favorite dish in the summer time is homemade guacamole with chips. Yum!
My favorite summertime cookout food is bbq’d corn on the cob! So summery, so delicious!
I love my mom’s corn & bean summer salad – it’s slightly sweet and extremely addicting. And to bring to a barbecue, I like to make tomato and feta salad – big chunks of both with herbs tossed in!
Favorite dish would be guacamole! Or some sort of mexican dip! Mmmm.
I love bringing kale salad or corn and black bean salad to cookouts!! My favorite food at cookouts are either kabobs or corn on the cob!
That sangria looks to die for!!!
What is your favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout? Mac and cheese! (but then again, I enjoy that all year round… yum)
What healthy dish do you like to bring to a summertime barbeque? Fruit skewers are festive for the summer and also healthy. Good crowd pleaser!
My favorite is fruit salsa with cinnamon chips and I bring watermelon & feta salads!
I love to bring fruit salad as a refreshing alternative!
I love summer BBQs and it feels like summer with watermelon and corn on the cob!
I love all the dips for pretzels and chips that always show up at cookouts. I never buy/make them, so it’s nice to have them as a treat!
I love watermelon!
My favorite food item to bring to a cook out is elote. It’s a Mexcian dish that tastes amazing! It is grilled corn on the cob topped with a mixture of mayonnaise, chili powder, lime juice, and topped with cotija cheese.
And, I love a good sangria! Yay for summer!
My favorite dish to bring is potato salad – definitely not healthy but everyone loves! But I also make a simple Cowboy’s Caviar that is healthier and fun and delicious!