Hooray for a summer holiday weekend! A tasty fresh variation on your standard lemonade, but with a Chinese medicine twist!
Goji berries are used in Chinese herbal medicine to nourish Blood and Yin and benefit the eyes and vision. They are similar to raisins and can be found in most supermarkets.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup goji berries
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 10 lemons)
4 cups water
Sugar or sweetener of choice (organic pure cane sugar, agave, etc)
(makes 1 pitcher, about 8 servings)
DIRECTIONS
- Soak goji berries in 1 cup of cold water for about 20 minutes, until soft.
- Blend goji berries, soaking water, and additional 1 cup water until goji berries are blended. Strain out goji berries to yield about 1.5 cups of goji berry juice.
- Combine goji berry juice, lemon juice, and 2 cups of water in a pitcher.
- Add sugar to taste – I like my lemonade pretty tart, so I used 3 teaspoons of sugar, but feel free to adjust to your liking.
Variations: this lemonade is a great base to add in other fruits (orange, peach, mango, strawberry, etc), club soda, ginger ale, vodka, champagne – so many possibilities!
References
Wang, Y., Sheir, W., & Ono, M. (2010). Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes from the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.