Recipes that are simple and delicious.
Have I mentioned that our garden has been nothing but pure joy this summer? My wife and I took a chance, built a couple of garden boxes, threw some seeds in them and let nature do its course. Weeks later we were exposed to radishes, […]
Instant ramen. What is a kid (or adult) to do when it comes down to this fairly dirt cheap square shaped puck of dried noodles? Well, lots of things. It seems as though instant ramen, Maruchan oriental style ramen packets is what invades my pantry […]
I’m not sure what it is about this time of year, beyond the heat and humidity, that I always think of fresh citrus drinks. My default concoction is pretty much my mint limeade as there is always an abundance of fresh mint around my house. As I was thinking about that limeade one weekend, for whatever reason coconut milk jumped into my thoughts (probably because I was thinking of sweet desserts on the horizon), and that is when the light bulb turned on and I decided to come up with this delicious coconut limeade.
I was probably thinking of limeade because I wanted to use up a bunch of limes that I had purchased in bulk after seeing a lime going for .50 at my local grocery. I decided to buy about 5 pounds worth of limes from a big bulk store and have my way with them! This was one way of having my go at the limes besides cooking Thai or having a few extra limes cut during a taco night at the house. I’ll admit though that I love limes as much as lemons, especially in Asian cooking. But no cooking on this one. This is about making a delicious and refreshing beverage that you and your family can enjoy. It’s called coconut limeade, and it is tart, sweet, creamy, and addictive!
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
The process on this one couldn’t get an easier, trust me.
Add the water to a pot, along with the sugar. Cook on medium heat, stirring, and once warmed remove the pot from the heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a container and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime prepare your limes, open the coconut milk, and measure out your condensed milk.
Add the limes to a blender. Pulse the blender to put a little rock and roll emphasis on those limes. After a couple of pulses, add in the chilled sugar water.
Pulse some more, until the limes get crushed up a bit, about 10 pulses or so.
Strain the mixture over a pitcher or bowl, pressing down on the lime mixture. The point here, NO PULP ALLOWED.
Discard the pulp. Add the sweetened condensed milk and the coconut milk to the pitcher. Give a good stir to incorporate everything. Serve over a nice glass of crushed ice and enjoy.
I’ll be honest, the drink is a bit surprising as you may first think it is horchata, or something other. But then you get into it and still think, what is this? What amazing flavors have just hit me on this hot and humid day? Then you start to get it. That light, sweet coating of the milks inside your mouth that is perfectly balanced by that ever so bitterness and sourness of citrus of the lime. You find yourself continuing to drink repeating the above. Then your drink is gone and you find yourself wanting more.
Yes, it’s pretty darn delicious, refreshing, and almost a perfect summertime drink. I suspect some alcohol could easily slide into this one for an ‘elevated’ cocktail. Enjoy!
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I remember years ago when I was into juicing. A juicer was given to me as a gift, and it would be my first time ‘juicing’. I actually enjoyed it, but it was a process, and the juicer itself was too large in size to be out everyday. Ultimately due to the time and the space, the juicer slowly moved its way back into the box and out of my daily picture. At that time I was juicing all sorts of raw vegetables and fruit. I would suck down that juice on my way to work, and I loved every drink of it. I’m not sure if it was all in my mind (I suspect not) or what but at times I often miss it.
This past Spring my wife and I decided to transform our outdoor garden. Since we moved into the house, we have been utilizing garden spaced alongside the perimeter of our home. We decided to get away from that idea as we wanted more space and really wanted to plant more (Not sure if we accomplished that) and build garden boxes and move them to some underutilized space in our yard. It was a great decision, and a very easy one at that.
We started by seeds and gave them our TLC, as well as some young plants from our nursery and farmer’s market. Tomatoes, strawberries, brussel sprouts, broccoli, beans, cucumbers, asparagus, and radish to name a few. After a couple of weeks, if not less, things were in full bloom. It was magical in a way. Our hard work paid off!
Also, little did I know that when I said ‘Hey, I’m going to plant radishes!’ to my wife that I would have about 200 radishes looking at me in a matter of weeks. I was quick to harvest, stare at the beauty of them, and then decide what to do with all of them.
I pickled a bunch (a lot) for making bahn mi sandwiches. That part was done, but what about the rest of them? I posted a photo and got a couple of responses. My brother basically said to toss them, and another friend chimed in and said to make a juice out of them. Bingo! I knew that oranges and radishes paired well in salads but I did not think about the combination in juice form, and it was perfect timing as I had a quart of orange juice and a bunch of radishes. It’s too easy not to try, so I did, and I actually really enjoyed it.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
It doesn’t get any easier than this.
There will be some ‘head’ from the blending, so you can wait until that tames down before straining if you desire.
Add the orange juice and radish to a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain into glass, with ice, to remove any radish bits.
Now sip and enjoy. This orange and radish juice, as weird as it may sound, is refreshing. Sure, it has that vegetable tone coming through in every drink, but knowing that always makes me feel stronger, and healthier when I’m done. Will I make this again? Most likely, but next time I might dust off that juicer and go for the straight extract and see what that yields.
Regardless, thanks to my friend for chiming in and offering the suggestion. Thanks to Mother Nature for a fertile garden, and for all of those darn radishes. Have you tried this combination before? Thoughts?
