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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My favorite summertime dish is grilled corn on the cob, so perfect!
I usually bring a caprese salad with fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden!
southwestern bean salad!!!
I usually bring a gorgonzola walnut salad – served on Belgian endive leaves – as an appetizer to BBQs. The endive balances out the richness of the gorgonzola, and it’s always a big hit! (Can’t wait to make your savory dip – yum!)
I love to bring a watermelon, arugula and feta salad!
I’m always in charge of the burgers. My hubs makes an INCREDIBLE burger. We try to make them healthier by using lean ground turkey or chicken.
My favorite is always the drinks! I love summertime drinks at a cookout with great friends and family.
I LOVE pasta salad and its the first thing I usually go for. 🙂
My favorite thing to eat at bbqs is guac, I can never get enough!
I love fresh sliced tomatoes with a little sprinkling of coarse salt. Simple but so good!
I love making homemade pasta salad ,see recipe here http://warfieldfamily.com/2012/07/sandis-pasta-salad/ , it is full of great veggies. Or this Moscato lime strawberry punch1 http://realhousemoms.com/strawberry-lime-moscato-punch/ (I however puree the strawberries so it is more smoothie like – SO good)
I make a fruit dip with strawberry cream cheese & marshmallow fluff that’s super yummy with all kinds of fruit! I also bring s’mores bars to Summer BBQs. It is hard to find healthy food at BBQs, but a good fruit salad is usually present and I love all fruits!
I make an awesome fish taco so I love grilling fish for those. Yum!
I think everybody loves fruit salad. Nothing fancy but so refreshing on a hot summer day.
Definitely burgers for a BBQ and a quinoa salad with tomatoes, corn, chickpeas, and red peppers is super yummy for a healthy dish!
Nothing better than a good burger on the grill! I love to bring along some guacamole for some healthy fats!
love this post!
Turkey burgers topped with grilled pineapple are my favorite!
My Caprese Skewers have been a hit at parties recently, and they’re so easy to make! Just slide a grape tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil leaf on a toothpick, drizzle with a little balsamic and voila!
My favorite thing to eat at summer BBQs is corn on the cob! Light, delicious, and a summer staple.
My favorite healthy dish to bring to a summer BBQ is something light like a fresh homemade mango salsa to enjoy with chips or as a burger topping. Guac also works too for this!
My favorite healthy dish to bring to a cookout is Ina Garten’s orzo salad with roasted veggies! It’s always a crowd-pleaser!
I love to have grilled vegetables at a summer cookout. Our contribution is usually a version of caprese on a stick–yum!!!
Watermelon! Either by itself or on a light salad with feta and tomatoes.
A love a good watermelon, feta, arugula salad! Light and refreshing – mixing sweet and savory.
GUACAMOLE! Pairs perfectly with everything!
I like to bring healthy pasta/salad dishes with lightened dressings!
Tough question! Summer and BBQs are pretty much my jam. I love grilled chicken and pretty much any icy/icecream desserts as well as fresh fruit! I usually bring roasted veges/sweet potatoes or a berry fruit salad when I want to bring something healthy to a BBQ.
My favorite dish to bring would either be a big fruit salad (watermelon definitely included!) or a quinoa-based side salad.
My favorite BBQ food would have to be cheeseburgers! I could eat hem every day!
I love to bring fresh fruit to any party, you can’t beat the taste during the summer!
I’m a big fan of dips, especially guac and fresh salsa with chips for a cookout!
I love to bring a fruit salad to a BBQ!
I love to bring a healthy pasta salad filled with lots of summer veggies!!
I love snickers salad with apples! It’s not exactly the healthiest, but after reading your post, I’m curious how I could revamp the original to make it lighter on calories! Thanks for a great post.
I love good ol potato salad. I’ve make it healthier by substituting greek yogurt for half of the mayonnaise recently.
My favorite summer dish to enjoy/bring is potato salad! A lightened up version makes it even more enjoyable!
I love barbecuing (well eating what my husband or dad barbecues since the grill scares me!).
Grilled corn on the cob or juicy hamburgers are my favorite!
I love bringing a healthy avocado-based potato salad to cookouts.
Your entire menu looks and sounds delicious!
I love a nice fresh fruit salad – there is nothing better than cold watermelon on a hot day!
Pure and simple watermelon.
I loooove summertime up in the midwest. We definitely take advantage of the warm weather. I love grilled corn on the cob. mmmm mmmmm! I typically make my watermelon salsa with jalepenos, cilantro, lime juice, red onion, and of course watermelon!
Guacamole can’t be beat while sipping a cool cocktail!
I usually like to bring fruit….watermelon screams summer! Or if I’m bringing dessert, then brownies.
I love bringing a fruit bowl with fresh fruit, especially pineapple!
a dish I like to take is delicious chickpea and corn salad. Its a cold salad that can be eaten in so many different ways: as a side dish, a dip, or as a topping for chicken breast or turkey burger! it has chickpeas, corn, red onion, cucumber, green onions, red bell pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, and topped with goat cheese!
I love eating grilled chicken and corn on the cob at a summer cook out!
I love to make a salad consisting of corn, feta, avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, and a simple cilantro vinaigrette! It is so refreshing.
My favorite summer time dish is anything grilled. Chicken, fish, burgers. Love them all!!
I’m like you, I’m a chips a dips girl….I’m a snacker what can I say. 😉
As far as a healthy dish to bring, I like to combine a bunch of different veggies…chopped peppers and onions, corn, green peas, diced tomatoes, avocado (really you can include anything) and let it all sit and meld together and use it as a dip.
Like I said I’m a chips and dips girl!
I love the combination of fruit (sweet) and any kind of chips (salty and crunchy) at a summer cookout.
I love bringing any sort of a salad to a summer BBQ (and drinks of course!) 🙂
My favorite thing to eat at a cookout is definitely my Mom’s seven layer dip. Personally though, I love baking, so I love bringing any kind of dessert (preferably something cool and creamy 🙂 )
I love to bring fruit salsa to summer BBQ’s. It’s prefect for those hot summer days!
Side dishes like pasta salad and chicken salad definitely pull a BBQ meal together! I love bringing a fruit salad because everybody loves fruit and it’s always the perfect healthy snack!
I live for grilled corn on the cob – covered in butter and seasoned with red and black pepper, salt, and garlic! The combo of sweet, spicy, and salty – Yummmm. Probably not the WORST thing out there for you either, right?