Emily's Hot Dish

This recipe is adapted from an idea I stole from Greg Frost. I met Greg in the first class I took at UW during August of 2002. It was a drama class with a nutty tyrant of a professor who refused to go barefoot even though she made us do so and yelled at me to “just learn to take a goddamn note!” when I asked her a question about a note I didn’t understand. At one point the class was playing some sort of movement game and Greg stood up quickly and whacked my face with the back of his head. I ended up with a HUGE fat lip. Seven years (God, has it really been SEVEN YEARS?) later, I think he’s finally made it up to me with this recipe. It’s very easy to make and is wonderfully crisp and refreshing. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than mixing a can with water – but it’s not something you can find in the stores and it makes a lovely non-alcoholic drink to serve to guests at a barbecue or to take with you on a picnic. And it would definitely take the sting out of a fat lip. 

Dump the lemonade concentrate into your pitcher. Fill the can with water twice and pour into the blender carafe.

Cut the cucumber into pieces, reserving several very thin slices, and place in the blender. Blend until pureed, about 30 seconds. 

Place the strainer on top of the pitcher and slowly pour the liquid from the blender through it. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, press on the solids in the strainer to eke out all the liquid you can.

Mix two more cans of water into the pitcher and stir to combine. Serve very cold garnished with reserved cucumber slices. 

Note: This also mixes very well with Midori if you want to punch it up a bit. Yum...