in addition to making chicken salad for my honey, i also made her cantaloupe agua fresca! after consuming, she says she would prefer mint instead of basil and lime instead of lemon. i had no idea that agua fresca, at least this one, could be this sweet without adding sugar.
Ingredients
15 cups chopped cantaloupe (about two 3 1/2-pound melons)
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
Preparation
Working in batches, purée cantaloupe in a blender until smooth.
Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl; line sieve with cheesecloth. Strain purée into bowl; gather cheesecloth into a bundle and squeeze any remaining juice into bowl. Repeat process with fresh cheesecloth, straining into a large pitcher (you should have about 5 cups juice).
Add lemon juice, basil, and 2 cups cold water to pitcher. Let steep at room temperature for 1–2 hours. Fill glasses with ice. Divide agua fresca among glasses.
8 servings
we received 2 small cantaloupe in this week’s CSA and they were softening quickly so agua fresca to the rescue (because there ain’t no way i’m eating soft, overripe, smelly cantaloupe!). i took m’s suggestion and made it with the mint from the garden and limes (because we conveniently and coincidentally had them). much like the watermelon agua fresca, there’s only so much melon i can handle but i did gulp down 2 glasses. i added more lime than the recipe called for – jury is still out on whether that is good in the long run (after flavors have had a chance to meld).