Ad hoc agua fresca - Watermelon, Cucumber, Mint

Watermelon and cucumber are possibly the most refreshing fresh produce you can eat in the summer, what with their crisp textures and high water contents. They're the perfect duo for a refreshing beverage like agua fresca. 

Agua fresca just sounds refreshing, doesn't it? Commonly associated with Mexican street vendors, this fruity water lives up to its name and, this summer, made a refreshing debut in my kitchen.

Some may argue with me, because I'm no experta en agua fresca, but I'm going out on a limb to say it's the kind of thing you can make without a recipe. For my first foray into making agua fresca, I Googled around for some recipes to inform myself on the ingredients I wanted to use, and then I walked away from the screen, went to the kitchen, and winged it.

I saw a recipe that used a whole watermelon, one cucumber, and lemon juice. A saw another for cucumber-mint agua fresca. And so on. Ultimately, I used half a seedless watermelon, one long English cucumber, a handful of mint leaves, equal parts fresh orange and lime juices (maybe 1/2 cup?), and about 2 cups water. These are the things I had and wanted to use up. Most recipes also add some sugar. I added none.

That's the basis of my argument that you can just wing this recipe however you want. You can make it to taste -- your taste.

So, you chop the watermelon and cucumber into pieces that will fit in your blender. You remove any thick stems from the mint. 

In batches, blend the solids with the juice and some water. 

Strain it to remove the pulp. 

Refrigerate and/or serve over ice.

The end result? Lovely pink water to quench your thirst on a hot day.

My non-recipe made 3 quarts of aqua fresca.

And then. Then, I discovered a quart of sun tea I'd forgotten about in the fridge. Half and half, anyone? Just point me to the nearest hammock.