Cantaloupe Aqua Fresca

Recipe from Lisa Zechiel, Washington Green Grocers

Cantaloupe aqua fresca? We are hooked. This recipe became one of our favorites, perfect for these hot, humid days. A repost of Lisa Zechiel's aqua fresca recipe, just in time. Local cantaloupes are fantastic now; sweet and juicy and ready to rock your juice world.

Here's how:

You need -

• 1 cantaloupe, rind and seeds removed and roughly chopped
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons honey or sugar (if you're making aqua fresca with August melons you won't need sweetener!)
• Juice of 1 lime

Line a fine mesh sieve or colander with cheesecloth over a bowl. Working in batches, puree the melon in a blender or food processor. Transfer the pureed melon to the sieve or colander as you go. Let the puree drain for about a half hour, occasionally pushing down on the puree with a wooden spoon or the back of a ladle. After the 30 minutes pull up the edges of the cheese cloth so the puree is in the middle and squeeze/ring it out so any remaining juice comes through the cheesecloth (do this over the colander so if the pulp escapes it won't ruin your juice). This will be a lot of juice.

Put the juice in a pitcher or big jar, add the water, lime juice and if you are using it, sugar or honey. You can use it right away or pop it in the regriferator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it in 8 ounce portions or whatever you like for up to 3 months.

Enjoy!

Washington's Green Grocer - the Mid-Atlantic's original farm to doorstep delivery service. We've been working to better our local food system since 1994 by supporting local farmers and makers and delivering their goods to your door!

Strawberries! A Shrub and a Salad for the Season

Space Division

There are so many ways to use this tart syrup. I like a ratio of 3 tablespoons to ½ cup sparkling water for a light, refreshing drink. Or try muddling some mint and mix the shrub with rum or vodka and a splash of bitters. You just made your new favorite spring drink! Makes 3–4 cups syrup.

1 cup sugar 1 cup water 4 cups strawberries, hulled and halved 4 cups chopped rhubarb stalks, cut in 1-inch pieces ½ teaspoon black peppercorns Vinegar—this is the fun part! (See tip)

Mix sugar and water in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add rhubarb, strawberries and peppercorns. Stir occasionally as fruit releases liquid and returns to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Cool and strain through a sieve, pressing on solids to release liquid.

Mix 4 parts fruit syrup to 1 part vinegar. Store in the refrigerator.

Space Division

Strawberry & Shaved Fennel Salad

Serves 6

Red, white and Waldorf. This is my take on the classic American salad created at its namesake New York City hotel near the end of the 19th century. Crisp fresh fennel stands in for celery while sweet spring strawberries replace fall apples. Toasted pumpkin seeds replace earthy walnuts and a white balsamic vinaigrette offers a lighter alternative to the traditional mayonnaise dressing. So maybe, after all, this has nothing at all to do with a Waldorf salad—but it did provide exquisite inspiration.

This light, crisp, sweet salad is the perfect side for your Memorial Day cookout. Serve it on its own, or over fresh greens like baby spinach or butter lettuce.

For dressing:

• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ⅓ cup white balsamic vinegar
• ⅔ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil

For salad:

• 2 cups hulled and sliced strawberries
• 2 fennel bulbs, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fennel fronds, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint leaves
• ¼ cup toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

In a medium bowl, combine shallot, sugar, mustard and vinegar with a pinch of salt. Whisk together. Combine strawberries, fennel, fennel fronds and mint in a separate bowl. Toss together.

While whisking, add oil to vinegar in a thin stream, to form a creamy emulsion.

Taste dressing with a forkful of fennel and strawberry. Season dressing to taste with additional sugar or vinegar as desired and toss with salad. Sprinkle with toasted pepitas and serve.

Tip: Fennel has a hard, white, cone-shaped core. To remove it, quarter the fennel and cut out the core before thinly slicing the more tender bulb.

About the Chef

Jonathan Bardzik is a DC–based storyteller, cook and author. He is self-taught and inspired by the fresh produce he enjoyed from his family’s garden and now finds at DC’s wonderful farm markets, where he gives weekly demos throughout most of the year. His new book, Seasons to Taste: Farm-fresh Joy for Kitchen and Table, is a four-season look at farm- and garden-fresh food and the people we share it with. It follows his first book, Simple Summer: A recipe for cooking and entertaining with ease. Jonathan’s books and original recipes can be found at JonathanBardzik.com, along with a calendar of his live appearances.

Honey-Berry Vodka Smash

by Roberts & June, special to EdibleDC

The Smash is a perfect drink for sipping on the porch on a warm late spring day. It’s also a perfect drink for celebrating local ingredients. The best thing about a smash is how easily adaptable it is to what you have on hand.

A smash requires a spirit, a sweetener, a juice, and a fruit; but the fruit and the juice can change based on the season and the spirit can change based on your mood or simply what you have on the shelf. While we’ve had excellent whiskey, brandy, and rum smashes, we particularly enjoy designing smashes that highlight the District’s excellent selection of homemade gins and vodkas. For this one, we chose One Eight’s District Made Vodka. If you pick this vodka up at your neighborhood liquor store, chances are they’ll warn you, ‘This is a bold vodka, not your normal, neutral spirit.’ To our minds, that’s what makes it great. It still has a crisp, clean taste, but you can also pick out the local rye from which it was made. We particularly think that extra little earthiness brings one more sign of the coming summer into this smash.

Honey-Berry Vodka Smash

Ingredients

• 2 oz District Made vodka
• 1 ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz local, raw honey*
• 2 dashes Embitterment orange bitters
• 2 strawberries (We cheated and used non-local berries. Call it a yearning for high summer, although the strawberries will be local at the markets in May!)

* Local honey is rather abundant—available at most every Farmer’s Market in the DMV or Whole Foods. If you’re spoiled by the AmazonPrime world, you can order it online here

Instructions

• Microwave honey 10-20 seconds
• Muddle the berries, honey, and bitters on the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
• Add the lemon juice, vodka, and ice; shake vigorously.
• Pour into an ice-filled highball glass, or split it into two old-fashioned glasses to share with a friend.

RobertsJune

Roberts and June recently moved to DC from Boston. They're former pastors who are now on a mission to help people drink better on every occasion; you can find more of their recipes, reviews, and tips on building your home bar at robertsandjune.com.