Pomegranate Mock Mojito

MAKES 2 SERVINGS • PREP TIME: 5 minutes • COOK TIME: not applicable

The wonderful thing about cooking is that we can borrow from everywhere. Take bartending: one of their favorite tools is the muddler, which, as the name implies, muddles (or crushes) ingredients to release flavors that go into the drink. And so it is here, with mint being the ingredient to be muddled. Now, you and I don’t have muddlers (unless you happen to be a mixologist), but you can use a mortar and pestle or the back of a wooden spoon to break down the mint and release the essential oils that go into this mojito. Mixed with antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice, lime juice, and pellegrino (Italian for “seltzer”), it tastes anything but muddled; it’s a straight shot of joy juice to the brain.

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
2 teaspoons honey, optional
24 sprigs spearmint or peppermint
1 cup seltzer water
Ice

Put the lime juice, pomegranate juice, and honey into a large measuring cup and stir to combine. Add the mint leaves and crush with a wooden spoon against the side of the cup. Add the mineral water and stir. Pour into two glasses filled with ice and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS: Use cranberry juice or blueberry juice in place of the pomegranate juice.

Reprinted with permission from The Healthy Mind Cookbook Copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson, Ten Speed Press, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA.

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