Coconut Milk Refreshers [Cinna-Minty Melon Cooler]
Even though it’s been in the 90s for several days at a time this summer, it still makes me laugh when people complain about the heat here in Colorado. Sure- that temperature may be high, but the humidity is still relatively low. 95˚ in Denver certainly feels a lot cooler than the same temperature in Maryland! I’m not saying that it hasn’t felt hot here- it’s just all relative.
During these dog days of summer, a cold, refreshing beverage is certainly a welcome bit of relief! I have a number of cold drinks that I turn to when I need to cool off a bit after a long morning of outdoor activity. That short list includes water and smoothies. And I’d be lying if I didn’t include a beer every once in a while (especially after a hike or mountain bike ride!). For today, I’m going to focus on the second item on that list: smoothies.
melon cooler
I’d been eying the various melons at Whole Foods for the last few weeks, and so far this summer I have only purchased watermelon. I finally bit the bullet and picked up two more varieties of melon the other day:
melons
Do you like my husband’s melons?
I’m a big fan of cantaloupe- it’s right up there with watermelon for me! Honeydew, however, is usually the one thing that I leave behind when eating a fruit salad. Greg loves it though, so I picked some up. Plus, it’s the star ingredient in Silk’s Cucumber Melon drink, which I had pinned a few weeks ago.
I recently discovered Silk’s Pure Coconut Original and I can’t get enough of it! I know that it’s super trendy to be obsessed with coconut anything right now, and I am definitely on board with that! I posted a few of the recipes from Silkology a couple of weeks ago that I had tried, all of which used Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla. I wanted to try the coconut milk in a smoothie, and figured that the cucumber melon would be perfect!
cucumber melon
I liked this drink just as much as I thought I would. Even though I am usually not a honeydew fan, the combination of ingredients just sounded fantastic to me! The flavor that stands out the most is cucumber- which is the ultimate “refreshment” ingredient. I used Silk Pure Coconut Original to create this drink, but anything in the Pure Almond line would probably be just as good.
Keeping with theme of melon, coconut milk and refreshment, I decided to experiment a little more. When it comes to smoothies, I definitely like to keep it simple. The fewer ingredients the better! I wanted to make cantaloupe the star, because I love the flavor so much. After a little bit of time in the kitchen, this is what I ended up with:
cinna minty
Cinna-Minty Melon Cooler (serves 2)
2 cups cubed cantaloupe
1.5 cups ice cubes
1 cup Silk Pure Coconut Original
1 T agave nectar (or honey)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
6 small mint leaves (about 1 T)
Combine all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth.
Initially, when I made this drink it was without the vanilla and cinnamon. But it needed something. The combination of the cinnamon with the mint is really wonderful! And the vanilla kind of mellows everything out. (If you use Silk Pure Coconut Vanilla, you could probably leave out the vanilla extract.) You could make this drink with any type of milk, but the coconut makes it extra creamy and rich. 🙂
Speaking of creamy and rich… check out this recipe on the back of the Silk Pure Coconut Original carton:
silk coconut rice
You better BELIEVE I’ll be making that next…
What’s your favorite variety of melon? Are there any that you do not like?