Hot Weather Desserts [Recipe]

For many of us, summer means hot weather and plenty of sunshine. It also often means get-togethers and outdoor activities, sometimes over a shared meal. But as sweat beads our brows and our core temperatures rise, we often look for ways to cool off. Maybe that means jumping in a body of water if you’re near the ocean or a lake or pool. Or maybe it means chilling in the shade during a cookout, or enjoying an ice-cold beverage and bringing the cool glass to your forehead as a simple way to beat the heat. But it could also mean enjoying a cooling and refreshing dessert at the end of your meal.

Many favorite summertime desserts are frozen or chilled treats designed to cool us down. But most of these summer favorites, especially when store-bought, aren’t exactly what most of us would call healthy.

So, what can you eat if you want a sweet, cold treat after a healthy summer meal?

Fortunately, just as there are whole food, plant-based alternatives to many popular breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes — there are also healthful, plant-powered summer desserts. And many of them taste pretty darn good! So, whether you have a bit of a sweet tooth or just want a fun and healthy way to eat more whole foods, we’re going to look at ways to make traditional summer dessert recipes more healthful.

Hot Weather Desserts

Hot weather calls for light and refreshing desserts that can help cool us down. There are many different types of cold desserts that are summertime favorites.

• Sorbet
• Ice cream
• Frozen yogurt
• Popsicles
• Snow cones or shaved ice
• Cheesecake
• Icebox cake
• Fruit tarts
• Pies
• Fruit and fruit salads
• Cookies

But aside from their shared status as summer treats, what else do the majority of these desserts have in common?

Not-So-Sweet Ingredients in Summer Desserts (and How to Replace Them)

Aside from cooling us down, many summer desserts are also made with similar ingredients. But many of those ingredients can do more harm than good for your health.

Sugar Is Sweet Until It Isn’t

Sugar seems to be almost everywhere in the modern industrialized food system. Even foods that are naturally sweetened with fruit sometimes have additional sugar added to them. But all that added sugar is wreaking havoc on many of our bodies.

Too much sugar, without the absence of fiber, elevates insulin to levels beyond what our bodies are equipped to handle. As a result, it’s one of the biggest contributing factors to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease — never mind contributing to food addiction and unhealthy cravings.

To replace refined sugar in your summer dessert recipes, there are some sugar substitutes to consider. But in many cases, you can leave out sugar completely and just let nature’s candy — fruit! — sweeten the dessert for you.

Dairy Can Be Scary

Many cold desserts are made with dairy, which gives them their creamy consistency and rich flavor. But those very qualities hide a much more sinister side due to their saturated fat content.

One ⅔-cup serving of the popular Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream contains 14g of saturated fat. That’s 70% of the recommended maximum amount for an entire day.

Saturated fat, especially when it comes from animal products, has been directly associated with inflammation and the development of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

And dairy is no picnic for cows or the environment, either. The vast majority of cows, especially those raised on feedlot farms, never even see a blade of grass — despite how dairy farms are often portrayed on packaging and in advertisements. Cows are subject to constant impregnation and little space, as well as antibiotic and hormone treatments to ensure they’re producing as much milk as possible.

Industrialized animal agriculture is also a huge water hog and contributes to the pollution of air, water, and soil.

You can replace dairy products easily these days with the rise in plant-based milks, creams, cheeses, yogurts, and butters. Make your own to save money and to avoid processed and unhealthy ingredients.

Food Additives Don’t Add Up to Health

Additives are used to thicken, preserve, flavor, or color food — among other things. But they’re not present in natural, whole foods. They’re often used in packaged and processed foods to mimic elements of real food or create something that doesn’t even resemble food.

Just take a look at the ingredients of a popular popsicle that looks like a firework, and you’ll be greeted with natural and artificial flavors, additives, and food dyes that are known to cause or increase hyperactivity in children.

The truth is, over 40% of the approved food additives in the United States are not even regulated or reviewed by the FDA. And many of those additives or ingredients are banned in other countries.

To thicken desserts, you can use tofu, beans, or nuts. Whole grain flour, starch, or a meal like almond meal or corn meal are also good thickening alternatives.

You don’t need any artificial or natural flavorings when you can let the real flavor shine through in a freshly made dessert. You can also always rely on herbs and spices (either fresh or dried) for additional whole-food flavor.

And there’s no need to add any food dyes or artificial colorings to a dessert when it’s homemade, especially when using fruits, vegetables, and spices. Many food pigments act as natural dyes, so don’t be afraid to eat the rainbow, as research has shown that a colorful diet is a great way to boost your health and vitality!

Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until creamy smooth.
2. Taste for additional ingredients of choice (more cherries for cherry flavor, more yogurt for creamy and tanginess, or more vanilla for vanilla flavor.).

Chef’s Notes

Substitutions
For the yogurt, use coconut, almond, cashew or soy.

Why miso?
Organic mellow white or chickpea miso gives an umami, cheese-like flavor. The amount in the recipe is perfect for a little cheesiness without the miso overpowering the cherries.

Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Add more water as needed to reach the desired consistency.

Source: Food Revolution, edited