Recipe:
Infusing fresh fruit and herbs into water adds natural flavor with few calories. This drink is tart from the lemon, cooling from the mint, and slightly sweet from the blackberries. Plus, the lemon and blackberries provide vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant.
Ingredients:
2 lemons, sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup blackberries
32 oz water
Ice, if desired
Instructions:
In a large pitcher, add lemon slices, blackberries, a few mint leaves, and water. Refrigerate overnight. Pour into glasses and squeeze some of the juice from the lemon slices and crush the blackberries slightly using the back of the fork or a muddler. You can also chop up the mint before adding it into the glass to release more of its flavor, or crush with a muddler in the glass. Add ice before serving if desired.
Yields: 4 servings (8 oz each)
Per serving (without eating fruit and mint after): 3.6 calories, 0 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 0.4 g sugars, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 2 mg calcium, 0 g omega-3 fats, 10 IU vitamin A, 3.9 mg vitamin C, 0 mg vitamin E, 0 mg iron, 0 mg zinc
Per serving (eating fruit and mint after): 29 calories, 1.2 g protein, 7.1 g carbohydrates, 3.4 g fiber, 2.4 g sugars, 0.4 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 mg sodium, 41 mg calcium, 0 g omega-3 fats, 546 IU vitamin A, 24.5 mg vitamin C, 0.5 mg vitamin E, 1.8 mg iron, 0.3 mg zinc
Lisa Drayer, M.A., R.D.,
is the author of THE BEAUTY DIET and STRONG, SLIM, and 30! For more of Lisa’s Beauty Bites, visit www.lisadrayer.com.