Popular in Mexico, agua fresca is a chilled and a lightly sweetened juice that is refreshing as the summer heat is approaching.

I like to make this beverage because buying a juicer can be expensive, I can make batches of this juice at one time for many people and I prefer drinking organic drinks rather than processed sodas or juices.

Making this refreshing drink is similar to using a juicer and can be made with a variety of fruits and vegetables. Options that can be added into the recipe include: Cucumbers, pineapples, strawberries, limes, mangos pears, spinach, basil and mint.

The ingredient choices for agua fresca, which translates into “fresh water”, provides creative and endless options for this beverage.

This recipe was adapted from foiegrashotdog.blogspot.com

Ingredients

Five to six cups of fruit

2 cups spinach

8 cups water

¼ cup honey

ice to serve

Add fruit, spinach and two cups of water into the blender then liquefy for about three minutes until the blender begins to whine. You can use any fruit, I chose to use strawberries.

Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the juice from the blender into a large bowl or pitcher. Use a spoon to gently press excess liquids out.

Traditionally, agua fresca is pulpless, flavored water. I did not have a fine strainer so I blended the fruit longer and did not separate the fine pulp from the juice.

Add ¼ honey to a one-cup liquid measuring cup and fill the remaining ¼ cup with the juice. Stir the honey until it is dissolved and add to the juice along with the remaining six cups of water.

You can add more honey if you prefer sweeter juice.

Let the juice chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve over ice. You can adapt this recipe by adding chunks of fruit, such as pineapple, mint or strawberries to garnish this fresh glass of juice.

Anna Puccinelli can be reached at [email protected]