What am I making today? Just some lemonade. Big deal right? The other day I felt like a fresh cool glass of lemonade. I recently started growing my own vegetables and herbs and I wanted to try adding some harvested lemon balm to my lemonade recipe...just because.
Lemon balm (Melissa), is a member of the mint family and is known for it's "calming" properties. It is delicious as a tea, so I decided to add it to my favorite summer drink.
I started growing herbs and vegetables in my kitchen a few months ago, while we were in the midst of a global pandemic. Like others I was afraid to go out. I was at a point where I dreaded grocery shopping. I saw online how people were growing vegetables on their window sills. It started out as an experiment but grew into an actual fondness for growing things from vegetable scraps. I started with cut bases of bok choy, celery and green onions.
I have since moved on to mint, cilantro and a baby pineapple.
I started reading about the benefits of lemon balm and bought a baby plant from my local supermarket. After 2 months it grew into a beautiful plush green plant. Once the leaves were big enough to harvest, I started adding them to an occasional cup of tea. Imagine waking up, going into your kitchen to prepare breakfast, cutting off herbs from your own plants, and throwing them into your favorite tea or omelet. That has officially become a reality in my home. Okay, enough blog gabbing...
The Lemonade
Note: This recipe produces a pretty tart lemonade, so use as much sweetener as you like.
I love a good sour lemonade. I started using alternative natural sweeteners and less white sugar to bring out the flavors of the lemons and limes. The coconut palm and apple sugar adds a nice sweet contrast to the lemonade. It's slightly sweet but there's more depth in the overall flavor than if you just added granulated white sugar.
Ingredients: (2 Quart Pitcher)
2 whole lemons (juiced) - save a few slices for garnish
2 whole limes (juiced)
1 cup lemon juice
3 large lemon balm leaves - mashed to release oils
1/4 cup coconut sugar
2 tbsp. liquid apple sugar
2 tbsp. honey
2 cups hot water (To blend ingredients/ steep lemon balm)
6 cups cold water
Crushed ice
Directions:
Boil water. Let cool slightly.
Rinse fresh lemon balm leaves. Don't apply pressure. Let dry on paper towel.
Cut up lemons (Squeeze juice into pitcher) - reserve a few slices for garnish
Cut up limes (Squeeze juice into pitcher)
Add 1 cup of bottled lemon juice
Gently crush 3 lemon balm leaves - Add to pitcher
Add coconut sugar, apple sugar and honey to pitcher.
Add 2 cups of hot water. Stir until combined.
Let sit for 5 minutes to steep lemon balm. (You can remove the lemon balm)
Taste your lemonade. If you need more sweetener add it here.
Add 6 cups of cold water. Stir. Pour over ice.
Garnish with lemon balm and a fresh lemon slice.
*You can use mint if you can't find lemon balm. It will be like a virgin mojito. :)
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