lemon aid

Absolutely nothing says summer like an ice-cold glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade. Until recently I thought I'd sipped the best there was. But then along came this recipe, the hands-down winner. I won't try to explain the taste--partly because it's indescribable and partly because summer should still have a few sweet surprises.

Ginger Lemonade

SERVES 4 TO 6

3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
  and crushed
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (6 to 8 lemons)
4 cups cold sparkling water, seltzer or water
Ice for serving
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

1. in medium saucepan, combine ginger, sugar and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ginger is aromatic and mixture is syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, discard ginger and let cool.

2. Transfer mixture to large pitcher. Stir in lemon juice and water. Add lemon slices and refrigerate until well chilled.

3. To serve, fill glasses with ice. Pour over lemonade and garnish with mint sprigs.

This recipe is reprinted from Nicole Routhier's Fruit Cookbook (Workman Publishing, 1996).

COPYRIGHT 2001 Vegetarian Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning