Cantaloupe Basil Lemonade

Hi there,

Today’s post is coming a day early because I am traveling tomorrow and because this Cantaloupe Basil Lemonade is too good not to share right away! This refreshing freshly made juice is absurdly easy to make, good for you, and is a perfect way to stay cool in this summer heat!

The Caribbean connection here is actually not to the ingredients, but to the process of making fresh juices. My mom and I often make juices together from scratch. I think the first one we ever made together was carrot juice. It is a labor intensive process and I would assist with cleaning, peeling, and chopping all the carrots. My mom would then blend the carrots with water and painstakingly strain the mixture until it became carrot juice. Then, she would flavor the juice with condensed milk (she would always leave some milk over so I could eat it!) and allow it to chill. I don’t know if she learned the recipe from her mother, but it will always be a memory (and a recipe) that I will cherish. We recently discovered the 100% carrot juice from Bolthouse Farms and love it! While we sometimes go through the process of making carrot juice from scratch, we now like to also use the Bolthouse juices because its exactly the same as what we would get from juicing the carrots ourselves.

And we didn’t stop with making carrot juice. During the summer, my mom would also make cucumber juice and watermelon juice from scratch. There’s just something about making juice from fresh fruits and vegetables that cannot be beat!

Today’s juice recipe is one that I came up with after taking stock of the ingredients in my fridge. I had some left over cantaloupe (just look at how cute those little slices of cantaloupe were!) and some herbs and decided to blend them together and see what came of it. After a little experimentation, I settled on the recipe I share below. And the best part is that you don’t need a juicer or even a strainer for this recipe! Just blend and enjoy.

When I visit my parents again, I’m definitely planning to make this juice with my mom. Let’s see if it gets her stamp of approval 😀

If you have never tried to make your own juice or thought you needed a juicer to make juice, be sure to try this recipe and let me know what you think. If you give it a try, tag #SweetandSorrel on Instagram.

makes 2 servings

CANTALOUPE BASIL LEMONADE

• 2 cups fresh cantaloupe, cubed
• 4 large basil leaves
• 1/2 cup of water (more if you want less pulp in your juice)
• juice of one large lemon
• sweetener of choice (brown sugar, honey, agave etc)
• ice cubes

DIRECTIONS

• Combine all the ingredients together in a high powered blender. Blend on high until all the ingredients are well blended. Pour over ice and enjoy!