A Change in the Weather, A Change in Tone

Now that temperatures in Charleston have edged over the 80° mark, I don’t leave the house without something cold to drink.  Usually, that drink is water.  But once in awhile, I get awfully bored with the clear stuff, and a squeeze or two of lemon just isn’t enough to revive my interest.  At times like those, I really miss iced tea, which I can’t have much of these days.

Yes, it seems pregnancy is going to pervade this blog.  Is it too late to change the name?

Anyway, necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I’ve since found a few recipes for refreshing drinks that neither contain caffeine nor have the ability to leech iron or folic acid (tea, it turns out, is a sneaky little bastard. Who knew?).  One of my favorites comes from the newer of the two Gourmet cookbooks; it’s a fruity, healthy concoction called “Agua Fresca.”

Because the recipe begs for adaptation, I’m going to ditch my usual scrupulousness about copyright laws and tell you exactly how to make it.  I hope Ruth Reichl doesn’t smite me!

To prepare an agua fresca, all you really need is a blender and some basic ingredients:  two cups of cold water, one cup of ice cubes, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and 2 cups of your favorite tropical-esque fruit.  Following Gourmet’s suggestion, I often use pineapple (frozen works fine, and is so easy!) with a few basil leaves thrown in.  I’ve also used strawberry and basil, subbing lemon juice for the lime.

Once you add the ingredients to the blender, run it until the drink looks smooth and free of big pieces of fruit.  The book suggests forcing the blended liquid through a sieve to make sure it’s lump-free, but I tend to run the blender for eons and skip that step.  Here’s what it’ll look like if you do that, though:

Side note: Do not buy this Kenmore blender. It is dreadful.

After an hour or so in the refrigerator, the drinks are cold, smooth, and ready to enjoy. They’re a tasty way to get a serving or two of fruit, and they look really fun in tall glasses, too.  And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?

The basil gives these their green tint.