This fresh and tasty summer treat is from Self magazine. It’s a great way to cool off on a hot day.

4 cups cubed watermelon
juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp sugar
mint sprigs, for garnish, or be bold and use basil!

Combine watermelon, lemon, and sugar in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour over ice and add mint sprig. Recipe makes 4 servings.

Each serving is only 73 calories. This recipe works well because watermelon is mostly, well, water. When you puree it smooth, it becomes liquid.

Here is a fresh summer recipe from Real Simple magazine that takes advantage of the seasonal summer tastes of watermelon and fresh basil. I prefer to use Assam black tea, which has a very strong flavor, but use the kind of tea you like best.

8 cups boiling water
8 tea bags
1/8 to 1/4 watermelon, cut into wedges (depends on the size of the melon)
1 small bunch fresh basil sprigs
sugar, to taste

Pour boiling water into a heat resistant pitcher over tea bags. Seep tea for 10 minutes and remove tea bags. Allow tea to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Chill 2-3 hours.

Place 3-4 watermelon wedges in each glass with ice and a sprig of basil. Pour tea and add sugar as desired. This recipe makes 8 servings.

I’m not sure why the tea is cooled to room temperature before putting into the refrigerator, but I will admit that I am guilty of skipping that step and my iced tea turns out fine. Check out the comments for instructions on cutting melons.

Another recipe from Cooking Light magazine (found on www.myrecipes.com), this dish goes well with Parmesan Herbed Noodles. This recipe also makes great sandwiches, using the aioli as a spread on toasted bread or buns.

Chicken:
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (approx 1 small lemon)
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Cooking spray

Basil Aioli:
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
3/4 tsp bottled minced garlic
1/2 tsp olive oil

To prepare chicken, combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to basil mixture, turning to coat. Let sit 10 minutes.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken and basil mixture to pan (including excess liquid); cook 8-10 minutes on each side or until lightly browned and cooking though (no longer pink in the middle).

While chicken cooks, prepare aioli. Place remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Serve with chicken.

I found preparing aioli in a small food chopper works much better than stirring with a whisk. This also works well to finely chop the basil. Just before removing chicken from pan, spread with aioli. Serve with egg noodles.

TIP: 1 large lemon (or 1 1/2 small lemons) should produce enough juice for both chicken and aioli. Set lemon out early to get to room temperature and roll on counter top with the palm of your hand before juicing. Cut lemon in half and squeeze over a small bowl or measuring cup. Use a strainer to remove pulp or seeds. You can also microwave lemon for 10-15 seconds to loosen the juice.

I actually made this dish twice this weekend, and the second time I scraped the brown bits off the bottom of the pan after the chicken was done and fried some sliced mushrooms with a hand-full of chopped green onions, some leftover lemon juice, and a sprinkle of oil olive. Now those are some tasty mushrooms! 

This zesty recipe comes from Taste of Home’s “Light & Tasty” magazine. The original recipe calls for yukon gold potatoes, but the seasoning works well with any type of potato (I prefer red-skinned potatoes), use which ever type you like best. I also altered the salt and oil content.

1 1/2 pounds potatoes (about 5 medium), cut into wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 425F

Wash and cut potatoes. Place in a large zip-lock bag with olive oil. Close bag and shake well to coat potatoes.

 Combine remaining ingredients in bag and shake or toss bag to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer in an 11×13 baking dish coating with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring halfway through cooking time. Let potatoes set 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe is from the cookbook Million Menus. The sherbet has a texture similar to a frozen slush drink, so I turned mine into smoothies. Cool off with Ginger Recipe #4.

1 ripe musk melon (cantaloupe)
2 limes
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white, lightly whisked
fresh or frozen strawberries

Peel, seed, and cut melon into small chunks. Juice limes. Combine melon, lime juice, and grated ginger into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl.

Stir in sugar. Beat in egg white. Transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze for 6 hours.

Serve in scoops with strawberries.

To make smoothies (and avoid the wait time):

After beating in egg white, pour approx 1 1/2 cups of melon mixture back into blender. Add 3-4 large ice cubes. Process until ice is blended. Garnish with strawberries.

Strawberry-Melon-Ginger Smoothie: Add 1/3 cup milk and several strawberries, cut into chunks. Process in blender until smooth.

Once sherbet has frozen, omit ice cubes when making smoothies and add 1/2 cup hot water instead (to get the blender going).

Add other fruit as desired. Honey can be added or substituted for sugar. Beaten egg white is not essential to making smoothies.