Cucumber-Basil Syrup

If your garden produces more cukes than you can eat, try this syrup. Great with seltzer water, in a gin tonic, or just with vodka on ice.

Step: 1

Remove ends of the cucumbers and discard. Slice cucumbers very finely. Toss in a bowl with the salt and set aside for a few minutes until the salt has drawn out a good amount of liquid.

Step: 2

Drain cucumbers in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Squeeze them a little but not too much. Measure out 1 cup and discard the rest.

Step: 3

Muddle the basil and add it to the cucumber liquid. Let it steep in the fridge for 2 hours.

Step: 4

Strain liquid into a saucepan, squeezing basil well to extract any liquid. Stir in sugar and bring to a boil, then add lemon juice and reduce heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 212 degrees F (100 degrees C), stirring once in a while.

Step: 5

Let cool slightly, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass bottle and let cool. Seal tightly and refrigerate.

Per Serving: 28 calories; protein 0.2g; carbohydrates 7.3g; sodium 36.8mg.

The most obvious way to pick a side dish is to caught at your main dish (pasta, chicken, seared tofu) and choose something different. If you’re making pasta, make sure for a simple vegetable . Making steak? Go for more light. If you’re want to cooking stir-fry with rice, it must not a good idea to adjust with make a rice salad.

One make sure is also can make to cooking method . You don’t want to push more often your oven by making to do list three dishes at once in there, or be rounding four pans on the stovetop . But sometimes you can made a dish do double-duty .