BEVERAGES
THE REAL MARGARITA
Serves 4
Who really invented the margarita? There are lots of candidates, including bartenders in Tijuana, Acapulco, and even San Antonio, Texas. One thing’s for sure, though: No Mexican meal would be complete without this tangy, sweet-salty tequila and fresh lime thirst quencher. Like most cocktails that are too successful for their own good, the margarita has inspired a great deal of nonsense in recent years: frozen margaritas, banana margaritas, margaritas prepared with bottled mixes. Here’s an authentic margarita that will get you back to the basics of good drinking and eating. One tequila I particularly like for margaritas is Herradura Gold.
2 tablespoons sugar
2 strips lime zest
2 strips orange zest
6 ounces (¾ cup) good tequila
⅓ cup Cointreau or other bitter orange liqueur
½ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons water
5 fresh lime wedges
Kosher salt or coarse sea salt (optional)
4 cups ice
1. Place the sugar, lime zest, and orange zest in a mortar and pound with a pestle. The idea is to bruise the zests, extracting the fragrant oils. (If you don’t have a mortar, pound the zests with the end of a wooden spoon in a bowl.)
2. Transfer the sugar and zests to a pitcher and stir in the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and water. If you have the time, let the mixture sit for a couple of hours in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to meld.
3. Rub the rims of four martini glasses with one of the lime wedges. Spread the salt, if using, in a shallow bowl. Dip each glass, rim side down, in the salt to coat the rim. Shake off the excess salt and right the glasses.
4. Just before serving, add the ice to the margarita and stir or shake well, 2 minutes. Strain the margarita into the prepared glasses. Festoon each with a wedge of lime and serve at once.
Note: If you’re watching your sodium intake, omit the salt.
200 CALORIES PER SERVING; 1 G PROTEIN; 0 G FAT; 0 G SATURATED FAT; 20 G CARBOHYDRATE; 2 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
SOURPUSS LEMONADE
Serves 4
Nothing goes to waste in this lemonade, which uses both the sour juice and the fragrant zest of the lemon. When choosing lemons, avoid fruits with knobby ends (they tend to be dry) and those with a greenish tinge (they tend to be sour, even for lemons).
4–6 lemons (1 cup juice), plus 1 lemon for garnish
⅓ cup sugar (or to taste)
4 cups water
ice
Wash the lemons and remove the zest of all but the lemon for garnish with a vegetable peeler. (Be sure to take only the yellow outer rind, not the bitter white pith beneath it.) Combine the zest, sugar, and 1 cup of the water in a saucepan. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Strain it into a heat-proof pitcher and let cool.
Cut the zested lemons in half and extract the juice. Stir it and the remaining water into the lemon syrup. Correct the flavoring, adding sugar and lemon juice to taste.
Serve the lemonade in tall glasses with ice. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges or slices for garnish. For a fancier presentation, rub the rim of each glass with cut lemon and dip it in sugar.
75 CALORIES PER SERVING; 0 G PROTEIN; 0 G FAT; 21 G CARBOHYDRATE; 8 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
WALNUT RICE PUNCH WITH MELON
(HORCHATA)
Serves 4
Milky white, nutty and sweet, horchata is one of the most offbeat beverages sold at a Mexican juice bar or lunch counter. Its origins lie a continent and a millennium away: The Moors brought rice to Spain when they invaded in the 8th century A.D. Rice and walnuts may seem like odd flavorings for a beverage, but the combination is amazingly refreshing. Horchata-type drinks can be found throughout the former Spanish empire; the melon is a strictly Mexican touch.
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
4 allspice berries
½ teaspoon anise seed
2 strips orange zest
5 cups water
½ cup uncooked white rice
¼ cup chopped walnuts
⅓ cup sugar, or to taste
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 cups diced honeydew melon
1. Tie the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, anise seed, and orange zest in a piece of cheesecloth. Combine the water, rice, walnuts, sugar, almond extract, and spice bundle in a pitcher and let steep for 6 to 8 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Remove and discard the spice bundle. Place the rice mixture and half the melon in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste for sweetness, adding sugar as needed.
3. Strain the horchata through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher. Stir in the remaining melon. Serve chilled.
221 CALORIES PER SERVING; 3 G PROTEIN; 3 G FAT; 0 G SATURATED FAT; 46 G CARBOHYDRATE; 20 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
MINT FIZZ
Serves 4
This drink is a booze-free twist on a classic cocktail made with gin. The mint and lemon flavors are so intense that you won’t miss the alcohol.
3 or 4 lemons
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, plus 4 sprigs for garnish
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg white
3½ cups sparkling water
2 cups crushed ice
Juice the lemons. (There should be ¾ cup juice.) Wash and stem the mint leaves. Combine the lemon juice, mint leaves, sugar, and egg white in a blender. Blend at high speed for 1 minute. Add the sparkling water and ice. Blend until the mixture is smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with mint sprigs.
76 CALORIES PER SERVING; 1 G PROTEIN; 0 G FAT; 20 G CARBOHYDRATE; 59 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
MANGO NECTAR
(AGUA DE MANGO)
Serves 4
This golden drink is one of the delights of a Mexican juice bar, a perfumed nectar made with nature’s perfect fruit. But to get the full effect, you must use ripe mangoes—the kind you can smell from the kitchen the moment you walk into the house. Smell alone will tell you a mango’s ripeness, as some varieties remain green even when they’re ready to eat. To ripen mangoes, place them in a loosely sealed paper bag at room temperature.
1 large or 2 small ripe mangoes (about 1½ pounds)
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
4 cups water
1. Peel the mango and cut the flesh off the seed. Place the flesh in a blender with the sugar, lime juice, and water. Purée until smooth. Taste for sweetness and tartness, adding sugar or lime juice as needed.
2. Strain the mango nectar into a pitcher and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. If it’s too thick, add a little more water. Serve over ice in a tall glass. Stir well just before serving.
Note: If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves when working with mangoes. Some people have a violent allergic reaction to mango sap.
137 CALORIES PER SERVING; 1 G PROTEIN; 1 G FAT; 0 G SATURATED FAT; 36 G CARBOHYDRATE; 11 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
TAMARIND NECTAR
(AGUA DE TAMARINDO)
Serves 4
Mexicans love fruit drinks. Visit almost any casual restaurant or market stall and you’ll see a rainbow-colored assortment of beverages lined up on the bar in handsome glass jars. This brown drink may not look as pretty as the others, but when it comes to quenching a thirst, nothing can beat the smoky, sweet-sour tang of tamarind. This tan, curved, tropical seedpod harbors an orangish brown pulp that tastes uncannily like prunes soaked in lime juice. If you live in a city with a large Hispanic community, you may be able to find whole tamarind pods. (Choose ripe pods—the ones with cracked tan skins.) More commonly, the tamarind pulp is sold peeled but with the seeds in plastic bags. This is what I call for below (see Note).
4 ounces peeled tamarind pulp, or 6 to 8 peeled pods
1 cup hot water
4 cups cold water
4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
1. Place the tamarind pulp in the bowl of a blender or food processor with the hot water and let stand for 5 minutes. Blend the mixture in short bursts at low speed until the seeds are free of pulp, 30 to 60 seconds.
2. Pour the tamarind mixture through a strainer into a pitcher, pressing hard with a wooden spoon to extract the juices and scraping the bottom of the strainer with a rubber spatula.
3. Return the seeds and pulp that remain in the strainer to the blender and mix with the 4 cups of cold water and the sugar. Strain this mixture into the pitcher and stir. Chill well.
4. Just before serving, check the tamarind nectar for sweetness, adding sugar as needed. Stir well and serve at once in tumblers filled with ice.
Note: Hispanic grocery stores often sell packages of frozen tamarind purée (pulpa de tamarindo). If you can find this, place 12 ounces in the pitcher. Stir in the cold water and sugar to taste, omitting the blending in steps 1 and 3.
56 CALORIES PER SERVING; 0 G PROTEIN; 0 G FAT; 0 G SATURATED FAT; 14 G CARBOHYDRATE; 9 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
CAJUN MARY
Serves 4
This drink may lack alcohol, but it’s not without a kick. V-8 Juice has a richer flavor than tomato juice, but you can certainly use the latter, or even the juice from canned plum tomatoes.
1 quart V-8 juice
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon juice from pickled jalapeño chilies (optional)
1–2 teaspoons Tabasco
1 teaspoon celery seeds
juice of 1 lemon (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
ice
Cajun Spice, for garnish
4 pickled jalapeño chilies, for garnish (optional)
Place the V-8 Juice in a pitcher. Stir in the horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, jalapeño juice, Tabasco, celery seeds, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Correct the seasoning, adding flavorings to suit your taste. The mixture should be very spicy. Pour into ice-filled glasses. Sprinkle a pinch of Cajun Spice over each glass and garnish with a jalapeño chili, if desired.
58 CALORIES PER SERVING; .3 G PROTEIN; .1 G FAT; 12 G CARBOHYDRATE; 950 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
SANGRITA
(SPICED TOMATO JUICE “CHASER”)
Serves 8
Sit down to any serious meal in Mexico and you’ll be offered twin glasses of sipping tequila and sangrita. Sangrita is a spicy “chaser” based on tomato and orange or lime juice, often with a little chili powder or pickled pepper juice for punch. The presentation might be rounded out with a few radishes, scallions, or jícama slices to munch on.
1 cup tomato juice
¾ cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup fresh lime juice, plus 1 or 2 lime wedges
2 tablespoons juice from pickled jalapeño peppers, or to taste
2 tablespoons finely grated onion with juices (optional)
¼ cup pure chili powder
1. In a pitcher, mix together the tomato, orange, and lime juices, the jalapeño pepper juice, and onion (if using). Add lime juice or pepper juice to taste; the sangrita should be highly seasoned.
2. Moisten the rims of eight straight-sided shot glasses or cordial glasses with the lime wedges. Spread the chili powder in a shallow bowl. Invert the glasses and dip them to the chili powder to coat the rims. Pour the sangrita into the glasses and serve at once.
31 CALORIES PER SERVING; 1 G PROTEIN; 1 G FAT; 0 G SATURATED FAT; 7 G CARBOHYDRATE; 177 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
THAI FRUIT SHAKE
Serves 2
This refreshing drink can be found at street stalls and open-air markets throughout Southeast Asia. Because of the hot climate and general lack of refrigeration, sweetened condensed milk is the dairy product of choice. Similar shakes can be made with virtually any other fruit.
1 cup diced watermelon
1 ripe banana, peeled and diced
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or to taste)
2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
2 cups crushed ice
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Correct the flavoring, adding lime juice and sugar to taste.
225 CALORIES PER SERVING; 3 G PROTEIN; 3 G FAT; 52 G CARBOHYDRATE; 27 MG SODIUM; 7 MG CHOLESTEROL
Thai Fruit Shake
HOT MULLED CIDER WITH GINGER
Serves 8
Here’s a great hot mulled cider for serving on Halloween or Thanksgiving, at an après-ski party, or on any cold winter evening. The term mull is etymologically related to mill, as in to mill or grind whole spices. For the best results, use whole spices and fresh, unpasteurized apple cider.
½ gallon apple cider
⅓ cup brown sugar (or to taste)
1 lemon
2 oranges
4 ¼-inch slices fresh ginger
6 whole cloves
6 allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cardamom pods
4 blades mace (or freshly grated nutmeg)
8 long cinnamon sticks, for garnish (optional)
Combine the cider and brown sugar in a large nonreactive pot. Remove the zest from the lemon and 1 of the oranges with a vegetable peeler. Juice the peeled fruits and add the juice to the cider. Cut the remaining orange into slices for garnish.
Tie the spices (except the cinnamon sticks) and zest in cheesecloth and add them to the cider. Bring the cider to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Remove the spice bundle before serving. Ladle the mulled cider into mugs and garnish with orange slices and cinnamon sticks (if using).
15 CALORIES PER SERVING; 0 G PROTEIN; 0 G FAT; 38 G CARBOHYDRATE; 20 MG SODIUM; 0 MG CHOLESTEROL
MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE
Serves 4
Mexicans flavor their hot chocolate with cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla, a practice already popular when Cortès visited the court of Montezuma in the 16th century. Thanks to these spices, you won’t miss the richness of whole milk. For a prettier presentation, sprinkle cinnamon or grate a little chocolate on top.
4 cups skim or 1 percent milk
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa
⅓ cup sugar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 vanilla bean, split (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
Combine all the ingredients (except the vanilla extract, if using) in a heavy saucepan. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly.
Remove the vanilla bean (you can rinse it off and reuse it) and pour the hot chocolate into mugs. (If using vanilla extract, add it to the hot chocolate after removing the pan from the heat.)
188 CALORIES PER SERVING; 10 G PROTEIN; 4 G FAT; 28 G CARBOHYDRATE; 125 MG SODIUM; 10 MG CHOLESTEROL