Pomegranate Mock Mojito

Thank you to Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson for sharing this refreshing recipe from your newly launched cookbook: The Healthy Mind that will get us ready for Summer!

“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.”

MAKES 2 SERVINGS
PREP TIME: 5 minutes

• 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

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

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

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DID YOU KNOW?
MINT: Cognitive functioning. Focus. Learning. Memory. Neuronal health. Some of mint’s effects on the brain come from nutrients.
It’s a good source of vitamin A, which can help boost learning skills and increase the brain’s plasticity.
There’s some vitamin C in mint as well, which may protect against cognitive decline. But there are also fascinating studies out there about how the scent of mint affects brain functioning.
In one study, the aroma of mint helped boost alertness and memory. In another, it helped test subjects perform better on basic clerical skills, such as typing and memorization. Just the scent of mint has been shown to increase alertness.