Drink Your Vegetables [Fierce Foodie]

Eating steaming hot food in the summer is about as appealing to me as drinking liquids at room temperature, as I cannot get over the feeling that I am imbibing my own spit.  In the heat of summer I crave ice cream and any other form of frozen dessert, but also cool, fresh foods like honey dew and watermelon and tiny, sweet cherry tomatoes that explode on your tongue.

As for cool summer drinks, I grew up in a Persian/Filipino family enjoying icy watermelon puree, spicy ginger tea (or salabat as it’s known in Tagalog), and watching my dad drink doogh, a Persian salty yogurt drink made with still or carbonated water, flavored with mint and served over ice.

So I’m always on the lookout for a new, yummy summer cooler, and what’s cooler than a cucumber?  Try this Jamaican cucumber juice when you want an invigorating and refreshing summer drink.

Jamaican Cucumber Juice

Recipe courtesy of JamaicaMix.com

Ingredients (This will all be strained, so don’t peel a thing, baby!)

6 cups coarsely chopped cucumber (I use English seedless because I like them better)

1 1/2 tbsp. chopped root ginger (fresh root can be kept in freezer for a month)

6 cups water (purified or filtered)

1 tbsp lime juice (fresh, not the stuff that comes in the little green bottle)

1 cup granulated sugar (can be replaced, reduced or increased according to your preference)

Directions

Place cucumber, ginger and water in blender.  Blend, then strain through a cheese cloth. Add lime juice and sugar and serve chilled.  Note, you can get fancy and use sugar syrup, I won’t hold it against you.

featured image credit: Island Vittles