Home Made Velvet Ginger Lemonade

When the universe gives you lemons – make naturally sweetened ginger lemonade! I remembered a frothy Lebanese lemonade my friend Christine made with a whole lemon. The zest from the whole lemon adds a strong, aromatic citrus essence, and the freshly grated ginger adds a special zing that makes this lemonade extraordinary. Those of you on the Body Ecology Diet, Sugar Circuit Diet, other sugar-free diets, or just watching your sugar intake could add in the desired amount of Stevia drops to your mix. Or you can halve the difference and use a little of a natural sweetener like agave, honey or yacon syrup, and then accent it with some drops of Stevia. Play around and find you perfect blend. For today, mine is this decadent agave-sweetened rich velvet lemonade that is absolutely to die for.

• Ready In: 5 mins
• Yields: 1 jug

Ingredients

• 1  whole organic lemon (well scrubbed)
• 1  cup  freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1  cup  agave nectar
• 1  tablespoon  of freshly grated ginger (to taste)
•  fresh mint leaves
• 6 -8  cups  of filtered water, sparkling mineral water or 6 -8  cups soda water

Directions

1. Place the agave and lemon juice in a saucepan until dissolved. Allow to cool.
2. Place this “syrup” in the blender with the whole lemon and freshly grated ginger and blend until frothy.
3. Stir through the desired amount of water and serve garnished with fresh mint leaves. You could add more freshly grated ginger for an extra punch.
4. This non-alcoholic drink is so refreshing on a hot Summer day. For a cocktail you could always add in some Vodka.