Friday, August 24, 2012

Farm Fridays: Watermelon Agua Fresca


Another Friday, another CSA pick-up. This week's produce looks suspiciously like last week's, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. (I skipped the flowers today because I was in a hurry and there were no scissors available - I really do need to remember my own scissors next week!) The produce variety is wonderful at this time of year.


The watermelon crop, in particular, seems to have been excellent this year. I love pulling in the driveway and seeing piles of huge melons waiting for me. I'm not a big watermelon person, but Jeff likes it, so I generally try to take a small one so he can manage to eat it in a week. That changed last week when I stumbled on this recipe for watermelon agua fresca. I will worry no more! In fact, I may be trying to take a big one so I can have this lovely drink all week!

The recipe is super simple - just throw everything in a blender and strain. The sourness of the lime sets off the sweetness of the watermelon beautifully. And while I don't always like mint, it really does add a refreshing touch to this drink. Today I had no mint available so I left it out. The drink is still good, but something is definitely missing. Even so, I think this batch will be polished off pretty quickly. I will definitely be bringing this to my next summer barbecue!

Watermelon Agua Fresca
From The Way the Cookie Crumbles.

 8 cups watermelon
6 tbsp lime juice
3-4 springs fresh mint
ice
sparkling water

Toss watermelon, lime juice and mint into a blender and puree. Pour pureed mixture into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Let sit for an hour or so, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has drained.


Toss the solids in the compost and store the liquids in a pitcher. To serve, add ice to a glass, fill halfway with the watermelon mixture and top off with sparkling water. Enjoy!


No comments:

Post a Comment