Most of my recipes are a byproduct of me going nuts at the weekly farmers markets, buying more produce than I can handle. That’s why recipes such as this rainbow salad, which are designed to taste amazing, while coincidentally using up as much food as possible, are clearly among my favorites.
Today, instead of salad, I present you this basil lemonade.
Um, is that supposed to be tasty? Yep, very much so!
Purple basil, or thai basil, is vibrant in color and dulcet in taste. Add fresh lemon juice, powdered glucose and a pinch of anise, and you are set to go. It reminds me of ‘şerbet’, the refreshing, yet absurdly sweet lemonade from Ottoman times, that is still popular in Turkey to this day. But don’t worry, my blend is hardly as sweet.
It’s the perfect drink to ask summer for another extension.
Purple fructose free lemonade
4 servings
Preparation time 5 minutes + 1 hour cooling
1 bundle of purple basil
5 tbsp of powdered glucose or more, according to taste
1 pinch of anise
800 ml water
Wash basil and pet dry. Discard woody stems and save a few leaves for decoration. Put basil, glucose, lemon juice and anise in a blender and run until smooth. Stir basil paste into the water and allow to infuse for 1 hour. Strain liquid through a fine sieve. Collect lemonade and serve with basil leaves.
Willkomen in Fructopia! In dieser kleinen Welt dreht sich alles um ein gesünderes Leben ohne Fructose, ohne Zucker, ohne Weizen. Schön, dass ihr da seid! 
Basilikumlimonade hab ich noch nie getrunken. Lustig, dass sie die Limo so schön lila färbt 🙂
Liebe Grüße,
Janneke
Der Thai-Basilikum, den ich für die Limonade genommen habe, ist an sich ja schon lila, daher die schöne Farbe! 🙂 Schau mal im Asia-Markt, vielleicht findest Du ja welchen.
liebe Grüße, Deniz