It’s the end of August and the beginning of Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer. My Farm to Fork class at Harvard starts on Tuesday and I’m currently contemplating getting a treadmill desk for my home office. My horrid back injury consumed half my summer but is finally becoming a distant memory: I’m back to running and am starting to think about the 2013 Boston Marathon. Autumn is on the horizon and my schedule is filling with cooking demos, lectures, television interviews, and local food events. And let’s not forget the beginning of the 2012-2013 artistic season, including my own company’s epic 15th anniversary. September is a wonderful month in New England, and lots of exciting projects await.
So what does all of that have to do with today’s post, you ask?
Nothing, nothing at all. Just saying.
Even so, it’s been enough time since my last cocktail post and today seems the right occasion, beginning of the holiday weekend and all. Honestly, I tend to prefer fruit-based cocktails, like my all-time favorite raspberry gimlet or blackberry margatini. However, I had some crisp farmers’ market cucumbers and basil simple syrup in the fridge, so I decided to venture into the world of vegetable-based cocktails. And, when I had leftover purée, I created my first ever mocktail to give my teetotaling friends something fun to make, too. Here’s the recipe.
Create a fresh cucumber and lime purée. Roughly chop one cuke and squeeze the juice from one lime into the bowl, or more if you prefer a tarter drink. (Note: I pretty much never peel produce to retain the fiber and texture and reduce food waste.) Use a hand blender to create a smooth mixture. For some body, use the mixture as is. For a pulpless drink, strain before using.
For the cocktail, shake 1 oz purée with 1/2 oz basil simple syrup and 1-2 oz gin—how strong do you like your drinks?—and strain into a martini glass. You could use simple syrup sans basil if you prefer; non-gin drinkers could substitute vodka. I’ve seen recipes that use St. Germain or top with prosecco or soda, but I kept my version classic, which was delicious and bright.
For the mocktail, pour 1 oz of the mixture into a tall rocks glass and top with sparkling water of your choice: lime seltzer is a natural fit, which I selected. Stir and taste. For a sweeter version with more flavor, add 1/2 oz basil simple syrup.
As I said, this was the first time I made a veggie cocktail, and I found it a nice change from my usual fruity-slash-girlie concoctions. Honestly, though, I was way more excited by the mocktail. Something a bit different than my usual sun tea, I adored this refreshing drink and it’s the mocktail I’ll likely serve next time I entertain. Essentially, it’s an elegant homemade soda with only a tiny amount of added sugar from the simple syrup, which could easily be omitted if you like.
Cocktail Confession
Sure, it’s Friday at the time of this writing, but I actually mixed up this drink Monday past on a whim. Yes, I confess, it was a Monday that called for a martini. Er, gimlet.
I then sat down in the dining room to watch the sunset and placed my drink on a makeshift coaster, Bon Appétit magazine. Took a photo, tweeted it, and next thing you know, the editor-in-chief retweets it, as do a few of his followers. Eeek. Had I anticipated that, I would have taken a nicer photo where I hadn’t already drunk a few sips. Minus my fingerprints all over the glass.
Ah, well. Call me, Adam!
Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my cooking videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!
I’ve spent a lot of time writing about corn and tomatoes, my summer favorites. Zucchini has now taken its rightful place in my seasonal repertoire with a few of my recent posts: the sweet (
With a name like this one, I’ll bet you’re thinking about something fruity and sweet, no? I seem to recall some ambrosia-like salad of yore with a similar name. Actually, I had two other competing names: A Lovely Little Lunch - which is exactly what this was – or the literal Sun Gold Tomato, Zucchini, and Corn Salad.
Anyway, this fishless salad is a seasonal favorite whose days are numbered. When butter & sugar corn meets candy-like sungold cherry tomatoes – aka, nature’s M&M’s, as I’ve noted previously and are 
See what happens when you don’t write for a few days? Not only do I get antsy and miss communicating with all of you, but my stats plummet as no one reads my blog. Sigh. Pesky day job keeps getting in the way of my dreams, which is to share my love of cooking and nutrition with you as much as possible, in as many ways as possible.
It’s really quite simple. Start by grilling corn, as described
It was about this time last year that I began writing about my summer love affair with corn and tomatoes, and you can tell from my recent posts on 
Looking for the perfect libation for a sultry summer evening? Whether or not served with traditional Spanish tapas, sangria is a light summertime drink that takes advantage of farmers’ market flora. Made with either white or red wine, it celebrates fruit in a way that few other alcoholic drinks do. While I generally prefer red wine sangria to white wine, they’re both delicious and the white wine variant works particularly well in the summer, allowing the pretty colors and lovely flavors of the fruit and herbs to shine.
1 bottle white wine
Not as excited about 
