Cucumber Mint Chia Fresca is a refreshing and easy beverage from Mexico/Central America. Great alternate to sugary beverage and keep you hydrated.

My vacation in Nepal is soon coming to an end, which is always bittersweet. As much as I enjoy doing nothing but eat, sleep, and lounge all day, I kind of miss my routined life in the USA. And eating greens, smoothies, and working out. I probably could do all of this here but I am on vacation mode and everything feels different, which is why I am ready to be back. Talking about the routined life, just before coming to Nepal, I had started drinking Cucumber Mint Chia Fresca in the morning instead of tea and really enjoyed it.

It’s refreshing, full of vitamins/minerals and , a great alternative to plain boring water. Aquas fresca basically means fresh water in Spanish but it is typically sold as a blended fruit juice. For cucumber mint chia fresca, I simply blended cucumber and mint together with freshly squeezed lime juice, sugar with little water. Just stir in chia seeds right before serving for added texture and nutrients.

Chia seeds are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seed and helps with hydration as it can absorb up to 9-10 times their weight in water. They are also good source fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc among many other nutrients. But chia seeds when soaked in water gets all gelatinous, so it’s one of those you either like it or don’t. Also, they tend to get stuck in your teeth. I will leave that up to you as you can easily omit chia seeds.

Cucumber Mint Chia Fresca minus chia is equally hydrating and something to consider if you are looking to up your water intake, help with your your soda/caffeine addiction, or just enjoy drinking it as this stuff is good. I like to make a big pitcher and keep it chilled in the refrigerator.

There is really no recipe for Cucumber Mint Chia Fresca but I will give you a general idea on how I make it at home. You can use more cucumber than mint or vice versa. If you are not a big fan of cucumber or mint, some other ideas include: strawberry + basil, berries + mint, lavender + lemon, watermelon, thyme + blackberries.

Cucumber Mint Chia Fresca

Author: Dixya @Food, Pleasure, and Health
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 2 large cucumber, sliced

• 1 cup mint leaves, rinsed

• start with 2 cups filtered water

• lime juice and sweetener to taste

• chia seeds, optional (add right before serving)

Instructions

1. In a blender, place cucumber, mint, water with a good squeeze of lime juice and sweetener to taste. Blend for few minutes until the mixture is smooth. It may take 3-5 minutes in a high speed blender or longer if your blender is not as powerful. Do it in batches if needed.

2. Strain the mixture and transfer to a pitcher/jar. Adjust the sweetener and lime juice as needed. Keep it chilled for few hours.

3. Pour it over ice with chia seeds

Similar beverage recipes for you:

What do you miss the most when you are on vacation?