I struggled with the title for this one, because this lemon mousse is really so many things. It will boost your immune system, help you detox, increase digestion, strengthen hair and nails, improves skin elasticity for wrinkle reduction, and can slim your waistline. Not only will it do all that, but it tastes fantastic while it’s making you healthier. I like putting this lemon mousse into small mason jars. It’s portable, snackable and easy to grab this way.
To low fat or not low fat
The base for this lemon mousse is protein rich Greek yogurt. You can strain regular yogurt if you don’t have Greek on hand. I’m a big fan of whole fat dairy products, but if you’re focusing on weight loss, then you can use low fat. Since cream will naturally rise to the top of un-homogenized milk, the lower fat milk on bottom is what’s used to make low fat yogurt, without any weird processing going on.
Detox and boost immunity
The flavor of course is coming from lemon, and here we’re using a fresh lemon. The acidity from the lemon increases stomach acid production to improve digestion. It also helps to flush toxins from the body and cleanse the liver, our main detox organ.
This recipe for lemon mousse uses the whole lemon though, including the pith, which is super high in vitamin C and kicks your immune system into gear. Make sure you use an organic lemon to avoid the high amount of pesticides in the peel.
Better nails without a manicure
And you can’t have lemon mousse without some way to thicken it. I love using grasssfed gelatin here since it’s so nutrient dense. This isn’t the same stuff found in the artificially flavored and neon colored box at the grocery store though. Gelatin gives your body the amino acids and proteins it needs to have healthy and vibrant nails, hair and skin. You can find gelatin in my superfood vanilla latte or gingerbread latte recipes.
A sweet combination
Raw honey is amazing in so many ways, and I frequently use it as my sweetener of choice. It’s perfect for sore throats and respiratory issues, and it tastes great in some honey sweetened caramel. Too much though, and it will spike blood sugar, which can give you a sugar crash, resulting in weight gain. Since the lemon is so sour, and the pith can be bitter, you really need enough sweetener here.
I use a combination of raw honey and stevia in this recipe. Most stevia is either highly processed, or terribly bitter. I’ve been using this liquid stevia, or this stevia powder lately since they’re both minimally processed and not bitter. To round the flavor out though, you really need some honey. By using both you’re getting a nice, full sweet flavor, without a blood sugar spike.
Ingredients
- 1 cup greek yogurt (preferably low fat if for weight loss)
- 1 cup filtered water, room temperature – the filter we use
- 1 fresh, organic lemon
- 1/4 tsp minimally processed stevia powder – the kind I use
- 1 T. raw honey – get it here if you can’t find local
- 1 T. grassfed gelatin – get it here
Instructions
- Pour the water into your blender and evenly sprinkle the gelatin on top. Let this mixture gel for 3 minutes.
- In the meantime, quarter your lemon and remove the seeds.
- Throw the yogurt, lemon, stevia and raw honey into the gelatin/water mixture and blend for about 1 minute 30 seconds, or until very smooth.
- Immediately pour the mousse into your jars and put them in the fridge for a few hours to firm up. Drizzle with raw honey before serving if desired.
Does the gelatin gel without being heated? I’ve never seen this happen? I’ve always had to bloom gelatin and then warm until it melts, but happy to learn an easier way…
For this particular recipe it works well since after it blooms it’s soft enough to blend. It does give you a nice mousse like texture especially since the blender whips it and introduces air to the mixture. If you’re making gelatin or another recipe though I’m not sure it would work without heating it, since I always heat mine when making gelatin.