How to Make Fresh, Strawberry-Basil Lemonade
Strawberry lemonade is amazing on its own, but the basil cuts down some of that sweetness and adds a really nice flavor. It's safe to say I'm in love with the combo.
What you'll need
- About 1 cup of fresh, chopped strawberries
- A few fresh basil leaves
- 8-10 lemons (bonus points for buying without plastic netting)
- 1 tablespoon of Agave (sub honey or sugar if you'd like)
- 1.5 cups of filtered water
- Food processor or blender
- Small saucepan
- Strainer
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Clean, large container
- Juicer (a hand juicer works just fine)
*yields about 3-4 cups
How to make it
Step 1: Puree (or blend) strawberries, basil leaves, agave, and 1/2 cup of water
Step 2: Bring mixture to a boil in saucepan and let thicken for a few minutes. It should look a bit like syrup but it won't be so thick, especially since you're not using a bunch of sugar.
Step 3: Strain syrup into a bowl first. Make sure to press down on the strainer to get all the goods. Carefully pour the bowl into your clean, large container and set aside.
Step 5: Juice enough of your lemons to yield a cup or more of lemon juice. Pour lemon juice into the container with the strawberry-basil syrup.
Step 7: Here's where you can experiment a bit, depending on your preference for sweetness and/or tartness. I added a cup of filtered water and a bit more agave until it reached the sweetness that I wanted. You can add as much of either as you want.
The nice part about agave is that it dissolves nicely in cold drinks. If you're using honey/sugar you might want to boil more down in your syrup first if you want a really sweet lemonade.
Step 8: Add any leftover strawberries and a few basil leaves to your finished product for some flare. Pour over ice and serve.
Enjoy!
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