Slacker sangria

I love wine, I love summer fruit, and I adore sangria. What I don't like are sickly sweet versions with sugar or-- heaven forbid-- soda added. Seriously? This is an adult beverage meant for relaxing, not giving you a sugar high.

I also don't want to gather a million ingredients, or chop, peel or juice anything. That's why my sangria mantra is "Dump and go." Pick three fruits, a fresh herb, and a bottle of wine you're not that excited about drinking-- the one that's been in the back of the cabinet for a couple of months.

Almost any combination will do, but you can't go wrong with color matching. Think light, sunny fruits with white wine and darker, berry flavors with red. Below is my go-to, most beloved and complemented recipe.

Slacker sangria

vegan, gluten-free

Ingredients

• 1 bottle of wine. I used a Pinot Gris.
• 1 peach, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• a handful of raspberries, about 1/2 cup
• a handful of fresh spearmint leaves, about 1/4 cup
• apple brandy, about 2oz (2 shots). I keep a bottle of Clear Creek's lovely apple brandy on hand just for this!

Directions

• Dump everything in a seal-able glass container. I use a 1 1/2 liter bail-lid jar, put the fruit in first, pour wine over it, then fill to the top with brandy.
• Shake vigorously and leave in the fridge overnight for flavors to meld. Tastes even better after two or three days!
• Serve over ice. I let chunks of fruit fall in (who doesn't like boozy fruit?), but if it's too broken down, garnish with a fresh fruit slice and mint leaves.