Mercado Kitchen: Watermelon – Lemon Cucumber – Mint Agua Fresca

To celebrate the beginning of summer and the start of the most delicious season, we made Agua Fresca. When the summer heat comes this transformable beverage is fantastic to sip on a warm afternoon or as a fresh accompaniment with a weekend breakfast. Easy to make and simply delicious, you can use just about any fruit you have on hand to make Agua Fresca and you can make it as sweet as you like by controlling the amount of sugar that you add.

For this batch, we used juicy pink Watermelon from Tomatero Farm, bright Lemon Cucumbers from Happy Boy Farms, and crisp clean Mint from Blue House Farm. The Watermelon was ripe enough that we didn’t add very much sugar to assure that our beverage was refreshing and thirst-quenching and less dessert-like.

To make this recipe you will need:

1 medium-sized watermelon

3 lemon cucumbers

1/4 c. sugar (Adjust this to your preference level) or agave nectar

1/4 c. water

1 bunch of mint

1 tray of ice cubes (about 12 cubes)

Instructions:

– Slice end-tips off of cucumbers and cut into manageable pieces for your blender. Remove mint leaves from stems but reserve some stems with leaves attached for garnish. Cut watermelon in half.

– Scoop watermelon into blender (seeds and all) and add all other ingredients. Blend until all big chunks are smooth. Depending upon the size of your blender, this may need to be done in 2-3 batches.

– Place a fine sieve over a large bowl and pour blended mix into sieve. Encourage the mix to drain by stirring with a wooden spoon. Be sure to press out as much liquid as possible.

Note: We aren’t very big sticklers on pulp but if you want your Agua Fresca to be pulp-free, use a cheese cloth. 

-Taste what you’ve made, and if you’d like it a little sweeter, make a simple syrup by heating equal parts water and sugar over low heat until the syrup dissolves. Agave nectar can also be used in place of sugar to add a hint of sweetness.

– Pour contents of bowl into pitcher. When serving, garnish cups with mint sprig. Enjoy!

*All Photos taken by Daniel Sullivan Jr.  Instagram: @dsulliphoto