Agave Lemonade

By Chef Catherine McCord, 2012/06/11

Last week my girlfriend brought me a huge bag of lemons from her tree. The first thing that came to mind on that hot summer day was fresh squeezed lemonade. I was craving it big time and I knew Kenya would be when he woke from his nap, so I only had a few minutes to make it. Instead of taking the time to make a simple syrup (which is basically a mixture of sugar and water), I decided to use agave nectar.   One of the bonuses of using agave, besides the fact that it’s very low on the glycemic index, is that it’s twice as sweet as sugar, so you only need about half of the agave to equal the same amount of sugar that most recipes call for. Also, since agave is a liquid, you don't have to take the time to heat it and mix it as you would the simple syrup. As soon as I showed Kenya his glass of fresh lemonade over ice with a colorful straw poking out, his eyes lit up. Now that's summertime!