Summer in a Glass

I thought maybe Brooklyn wasn’t going to get a real summer this year. It’s been cool and rainy around these parts for months. (Which is part of why the Northeast is likely going to have a sad tomato crop.) Then, last weekend, August descended upon us with a vengeance, and a week early to boot. We scrambled to install the bedroom air conditioner, giving us a nighttime reprieve, but there’s no relief at all in our tiny-top floor kitchen. An open window and a mini-fan are no match for this humidity, and I would be lying if I told you I didn’t eat cereal for dinner one night this past week, when the thought of the energy required to chop something, never mind the heat generated by turning on a burner, left me exhausted and defeated before I even tried. So I’ve been dreaming up no-cook or quick-cook meals for days on end now, and I’ve got several to share with you.

First, though, do yourself a favor and mix up a batch of this super-refreshing drink. Jeff has been on a lemonade-making kick lately, and it’s rare that there’s not a jug of it in the fridge. The rain seems to have been good for the cucumber crop, as I can’t seem to go through all of them between CSA pick-ups, and there’s only so much cucumber salad a girl can take, so I tossed some slices in to the lemonade. I threw in some berries (we’ve used strawberries and raspberries now — both work well, and I imagine blackberries would, too) and some mint from the plant in my window garden, which also seems to be happy about the rain, and it’s many of the best tastes of the season in an ice-cold glass. Keep it in your refrigerator and pour yourself a glass of it when you’re half-wilted and ready to dial for takeout. If it’s been a very long day, toss a shot of vodka in. I guarantee it will perk you up, cool you down, and have you ready to face dinner.

Lemonade with Strawberries, Cucumbers, and Muddled Mint

for simple syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

for lemonade:
1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (7-10 lemons, depending on size)
3 to 4 cups cold water
a handful of mint leaves, plucked from their stems
1 tbsp sugar
10-15 strawberries, hulled and sliced
half a slicing cucumber, peeled, sliced, and then quartered

vodka (optional)

First, make simple syrup by putting 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water into a medium saucepan and boiling until clear. (You can throw a pinch of lemon zest in here as well, if you want to amp up the lemon flavor.) Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Squeeze lemons into a glass measuring cup until you have 1 cup of juice. Rinse, hull, and slice strawberries. (If using raspberries or blackberries, you can just cut in half.) Peel and slice cucumber. Muddle mint with the tablespoon of sugar until it’s a bit bruised and you can really smell it. When simple syrup has cooled to room temp, measure out 1 cup of it (you’ll have a little bit left over–I keep it in the fridge and use it in iced coffee) into a pitcher, add fresh lemon juice, and then cold water. How much water you add will depend on how strong you like your lemonade. Start with 3 cups, and then add more if you want it slightly more diluted. Toss in the mint, strawberries, and cucumber, and shake up the pitcher a bit. If it’s cocktail hour, put a shot of vodka in your glass. Serve over ice with a mint sprig garnish

You can drink this immediately after making, but it’s better if it chills for a couple of hours and the flavors have time to blend. It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge before the berries and cukes start to get too soggy, but in my experience, it never lasts long enough for that to be a problem.

Yields: about 6 glasses

Time to make: 15 mins active prep, a little more time for cooling