FRESH LEMON SYRUP

8 minutes Makes 1 cup syrup (enough for 4 glasses of lemonade)

This simple lemon syrup made from the lemon juice, zest, sugar and water takes minutes to put together and is great to have on hand whenever you want to fix a lemony recipes. It’s great in lemonade, cocktails or to drizzle over fruit salad. To make a pitcher of lemonade, combine a cup of lemon syrup with 3 cups cold water, still or sparkling. Stir and serve, with ice, if desired. If you want a single glass, combine ¼ cup of lemon syrup with ¾ cup of cold water.

Storage Notes: The syrup can be refrigerated for up to 1 month. 4 medium lemons, preferably organic, or more as needed ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup water Wash the lemons well. Using a microplane zester, zest 2 lemons into a small saucepan, being careful not to scrape off any of the bitter white pith just beneath the yellow zest.

Juice the zested and unzested lemons, and strain their juice into a liquid measuring cup. You should get about ½ cup of lemon juice. (If you have too much, reserve it for another use; if you have too little, juice another lemon.)

Add the sugar and water to the lemon zest. Set the saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Do not let the syrup come to a boil. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve set over the lemon juice and stir to combine. (Discard the lemon zest.)

Nutrition | calories: 90; total fat: 0 g; saturated fat: 0 g; cholesterol: 0 mg; sodium: 1 mg; carbohydrates: 22 g; dietary fiber: 0 g; sugars: 22 g; protein: 0 g.