Home Drinks Watermelon Basil Chia Smoothie

Watermelon Basil Chia Smoothie

by Ann
18 comments

Basil Watermelon Chia Slushie

It’s time for the Crazy Cooking Challenge and this month we are all making smoothies. The assignment is to find another blogger’s smoothie recipe, make it, and blog about it.


I chose this watermelon smoothie (slushie?) from the Full Belly Sisters because as some of you who follow me on facebook know, I recently bought a watermelon that was less then stellar. To put it bluntly, it sucked. I asked my facebook friends what to do with it and I had such an amazing response! There were some really great ideas there, and this just happened to be one of them. I also just so happen to have some chia seeds that I won from Lauren at Nutri-Savvy and Ruth’s Foods.

Justine used mint in her slushie, and I have a tiny bit of mint that I planted, but it’s just starting and doesn’t have many leaves yet, so I decided to use some of the basil instead, since that plant ALWAYS needs trimming–and besides, basil is a member of the mint family and it goes very well with watermelon. The other change I made to the recipe was I had to add some liquid because my blender did NOT want to blend up the watermelon cubes “dry”. If you have one of those juicer kind of blenders, perhaps you won’t need any extra liquid, but mine was NOT budging without adding some liquid. I added it 1/4 cup at a time, till it was liquid enough to drink through a straw. It was still plenty thick, though, as you can see.

Basil Watermelon Chia Slushie

Watermelon Basil Chia Smoothie

(yields about 24 ounces)
  • 4 cups cubed watermelon, frozen
  • about 5 or 6 basil leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
  • juice of one lime
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 cup of juice (I used apple cherry juice)
  • 1/4 cup of culinary rosewater (or you can substitute water or juice)
  • Thin watermelon slices and basil leaves, for garnish

Put the watermelon, basil, chia, lime juice, and salt in a blender. Add 1/4 cup of juice and try blending. Add juice (or rosewater) 1/4 cup at a time until the smoothie blends, then add more as needed to get the smoothie to the thickness that you like.

If you drink the whole thing yourself, it will be like eating a meal. You will be full for a long while. The chia seeds add fiber, calcium and protein, so they give this drink a lot of “staying power”, and with all the nutritional benefits of the watermelon and the juice, you will be getting a lot of the vitamins, water, and nutrients that your body needs. Not to mention that it’s quite refreshing to drink this sweet slushie on a hot summer day.

Basil Watermelon Chia Slushie

This post is for the Crazy Cooking Challenge

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Click here to see all the other awesome smoothies in the Crazy Cooking Challenge …

This recipe was also shared at I’m Lovin’ It.

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18 comments

Cynthia L. June 7, 2012 - 11:47 am

This looks really yummy. We will be getting an abundance of watermelon from our CSA this summer, so I will put this on the list of things to try!

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Chef Mireille June 7, 2012 - 12:32 pm

I’ve got some watermelon in my refrigerator right now, maybe I will replace basil with rosemary since I have that

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Ann June 7, 2012 - 12:40 pm

Oh I bet rosemary would be lovely!

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juanitascocina June 7, 2012 - 1:39 pm

I make a watermelon salsa that has basil in it, and it is amazing! So, I can just imagine how this must taste! YUM!

#31

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Ann June 7, 2012 - 1:41 pm

Watermelon salsa with basil? That sounds amazing! Now I want YOUR recipe 🙂

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Melissa June 7, 2012 - 1:43 pm

What a great flavor combination!

I’m CCC #5

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close to home June 7, 2012 - 2:09 pm

I have made watermelon margaritas but this sounds great. have it give it a try

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close to home June 7, 2012 - 2:09 pm

sorry #33 CCC

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Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips June 7, 2012 - 7:56 pm

What a great use for your sub-par watermelon! And your Chia Seeds from Lauren!

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prairiesummers June 7, 2012 - 9:25 pm

That is a great combination! And I love the funky straw 🙂

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Ann June 8, 2012 - 11:39 am

Thanks! I got the straw at reuseit.com … it’s stainless steel. I love that I can reuse it and it won’t break.

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prairiesummers June 8, 2012 - 4:46 pm

That is a wonderful idea!

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Lisa~~ June 7, 2012 - 10:00 pm

I love watermelon drinks and chia seed in there makes it even better.

If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my CCC entry: Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie.

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

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Ann June 8, 2012 - 11:34 am

Lisa I will be right over! Thanks for visiting mine 🙂

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Lesa @Edesia's Notebook June 8, 2012 - 8:04 am

Sounds amazing, Ann. Great job finding a use for something you didn’t like! My blender is really picky and requires a lot of liquid too, maybe that’s why I find making smoothies kind a pain in the butt!

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Ann June 8, 2012 - 8:28 am

I love my blender … it’s a basic commercial bar blender so it’s sturdy and blends up margaritas and frozen drinks really well, but you do have to make sure you have enough liquid. That’s okay by me. The smoothie would have been way to thick without the liquid.

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Winelady Cooks June 8, 2012 - 1:46 pm

Oh, this sounds so good. I like using watermelon for granitas. I’ll have to try it in a smoothie. Thanks for sharing.

I’m CCC #17, please stop by when you have a chance.

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Ann June 8, 2012 - 1:51 pm

I will be right over! Thank you 🙂

Reply

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