Paleo foods

BEET LEMONADE

This beet lemonade sounds a little unusual but is super delicious and refreshing—I love the bright pink color, and the sweetness of the beets lends itself to the lemonade so you don’t have to use a ton of sweetener. I like it with just a little honey, garnished with a sprig of fresh mint. SERVES 4 TO 6

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour, 20 minutes

1 medium beet, peeled and grated

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 or 5 large lemons)

3½ cups water

½ cup honey (or more, depending on how sweet you want it)

  1. In a blender, blend the beet, lemon juice, water, and honey. Pour through a fine strainer into a pitcher. Use a spoon to press down on the beet pulp to strain out as much liquid as possible, and discard the pulp.
  2. Chill for about an hour, and serve over lots of ice.

VARIATION 1 STRAWBERRY-BEET LEMONADE: Add 1 cup strawberries to the blender with the rest of the ingredients.

VARIATION 2 LIME-BEET LEMONADE: Follow the recipe as written, and then add 1 or 2 sliced limes to the pitcher in the refrigerator.

PREP TIP: Make a double batch of this lemonade and store in the refrigerator, or freeze in ice cube trays for later.