Wednesday, June 1, 2011

A New Beverage Idea

I love water.  That's what we'd always have on the table growing up, unless we had guests or it was tea time.  It's my default drink.  I was shocked the first time someone told me "I don't like water".  I thought it was quite a silly thing to say, like "I don't like air".

Everyone knows that they should drink more of it and beverage companies have capitalized on the idea by providing hundreds of varieties of water -- and I'm not sure that's an exaggeration.  Vitamin water was a really big thing for a group of my friends who thought they were being healthy, until the sodium content and unpronounceable ingredient list was pointed out to them.  (Am I the only one who reads labels?  I know I'm a brat whose friends are very forgiving.)

I found an idea in a book last year, but I finally built up the nerve to try it this week.  I soaked and cleaned some leeks. (Soaking is very important to loosen the gritty dirt that hides between the layers.)  Then I put them in a pot with a quart of water -- no salt.  I let them boil for about 20 minutes and them let them cool.  The book recommended this as a "cleanse":  drink the cooled water and eat the cooked leeks throughout the day.  The water is loaded with vitamins and minerals from the leeks -- and it doesn't taste bad!  In fact, it doesn't have much flavor at all.

A Mexican friend recommended drinking the water from cooked beans to help ease cramps and other "time of the month" ailments.  Think: high fiber, iron and protein.

Last night, my sister boiled an artichoke and as she was pouring out the water, it occurred to me that I should have asked her to save it for me.

I usually salt my veggies when I cook them, so I don't know if that taste good to drink like water.  Hm, it could probably be used as a base for a work-out drink, like to make your own gatorade, or a broth to make a soup.  Hm... so many ideas.

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