House Favorite: Lemonade

I’m probably late to the lemonade party, but just in case there are others out there who have not discovered how easy and delicious it can be to make your own lemonade, this is for you. I’m submitting this to the monthly “House Favorites: Vegan” blog event over at Chez Cayenne.

I came across a recipe in The Indian Vegan Kitchen, which was quite good. In the five hundred times I’ve made it in the past couple of months I’ve simplified it a bit, simply because I’m pretty lazy. The great thing is that it’s easy to customize to your own tastes, or mood. For instance, I add lime juice sometimes. I think fresh ginger would also be a great addition (based on a lemonade I’m addicted to at a local vegetarian restaurant), and I add a bit more salt if it’s extra hot out and I’m in need of a “recovery drink”. Or if I want to take it with me on the bike. Yup, this makes a great energy drink for long workouts!

Also, I cheat by using the bottles of lemon juice, rather than trying to have lemons on hand at all times. I seem to make this every couple days, if not more often, now that summer is here!

Simple Lemonade

2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon (warning: I like my lemonade pretty tangy, so start with less if you’re not sure you’ll like a strong lemonade…of course it can be diluted later.)
1/8 tsp salt
6 or more ice cubes

Add everything but the ice cubes into a container of your choice, something with a lid, so you can shake it all up together. I use pasta sauce jars, because I don’t actually have any other kind of container to use for this! After you’ve shaken it up a bit, add the ice cubes – as many as you can fit into the rest of the jar/jug. Shake it up some more, and store in the fridge.