Summer Beverage Basil Ginger Limeade
“Eat and drink for health, wellness and happiness as you satisfy yourself with all 6 tastes”
Summer is a time to spend outdoors - for me it’s rain or shine! And when we are frolicking at play at the beach, going for a walk, run or bike ride, or just hanging outside on a hot day - it’s really important to hydrate - to replenish the water lost in our body from the heat and sweat. This ‘limeade’ beverage - ‘mock-tail’ a.ka. cocktail is loaded with the finest ingredients that includes ALL 6 tastes in cuisine: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and astringent. So, if you’re looking for a pick me up, wake me up, energies me kind of drink midday when you’re feeling foggy, tired, sweaty and need a tune up with healthy, ingestible and hydrating energy - this beverage is for you.
Conscious cooking is one of the quickest ways to balance our own body types - in Ayurveda teachings there are three body types (I’ll get into that another time). The ingredients in this Basil Ginger Limeade is strategically masterminded. It’s a recipe used by many spas and in Ayurvedic cooking. It’s conscious cooking at its finest! There’s a reason why this recipe is blended for summer bliss. Here’s the scoop: the sour lime and spicy/sweet fresh ginger root wakes us up and creates a happy palate. The ingredients stimulates and enlivens our body and mind especially when we need that ‘wake me up’ - no need to reach out for the midday coffee. This drink suffices plus more!
Ginger root also wakes up our taste buds and lights up our digestive fire and eases our tummy from discomfort. Lime is cooling on a summer day and lubrcates the GI - and increases saliva in the mouth. Salt and sugar is a great electrolyte, restores strength from sweating out our own minerals - we need to replenish! Basil - a treasured herb from my garden that I traveled to Fire Island with clarifies our foggy mind and thoughts.
Mise En Place
1/2 cup basil - small handful
2 inches fresh ginger root - chop into chuncks
1 tsp lime zest grate - 1 lime juice
2 tsp natural sugar - monk fruit sweetener, coconut sugar
1 cup water
8 cups water in pitcher
0ptional: salt the rim of glass before pouring drink in glass and before serving - this adds a salty taste for more electrolyte benefits
-add 1 cup of water to blender with ginger, lime juice, lime zest, sugar land handful (1/2 cup) basil leaves
-blend until smooth
-combine additional 7 cups to pitcher
-garnish with a few basil leaves
-chill pitcher in fridge and serve
-rim glasses with salt before serving
-Enjoy these delicious and gorgeous mock-tails that all ages can enjoy
salting the rim of the glass - adds more electrolytes and taste to your summer pick me up beverage
Bright, refreshing, sparkly and sharp love in a glass,
Genia