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Easy Strawberry Agua Fresca Recipe – Aida of Salt & Wind Travel
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This delightful and refreshing Easy Strawberry Agua Fresca Recipe is from our friend Aida at Salt & Wind Travel. Made with California strawberries at peak ripeness, and a touch of California honey, it has just the right amount of sweetness. Agua Fresca, which means fresh water in Spanish, is often served as a counterbalance to spicy Mexican cuisine. We think you’ll love this bright and delicious drink!
From Aida:
My career in food is a direct result of having grown up in the Golden State.
Some of my earliest memories are of playing in friend’s backyards. Almost always, there was a fruit tree or a raised box with a few vegetables growing. At one friend’s house, I discovered the garnet-hued arils of a pomegranate. I puckered from the sweet-tart of kumquats at another’s. At our house, I’d always anticipate the first of our summer tomatoes.
The result was that produce was the star ingredient of my plate from a very young age. So, when I started cooking professionally, I concentrated on what was in season and making it shine. While eating locally was always a focus, I didn’t really appreciate the various microclimates until I moved to a few places across the state.
My first few years living in the Bay Area taught me a love for the delicate lettuce of Monterey County. And from Brentwood, the adoration for the stone fruit and quince. My return to Southern California, had me falling in love all over again with the citrus. From Meyer Lemons to Kishu mandarins to the strawberries growing up and down the coast the variety amazed me.
My food identity is 100% wrapped up in seasonal and local. I have our numerous dedicated California farmers and farmworkers to thank for their hard work. They bring the flavors of the Golden State to life with the produce they grow!
You’ll love Aida’s other recipes too!
Check out some of Aida’s other delicious recipes made with beautiful California Grown produce. Scroll all the way down for her refreshing Easy Strawberry Agua Fresca recipe.
Honey and Oregano Broiled Feta Caprese Recipe
This recipe has flavors that feel a bit Greek, such as feta, tomatoes, oregano and California Honey. It’s loaded with lots of summery, bright flavors that feel a whole lot like California sunshine on a plate.
To make this recipe, you don’t need much as it’s easy, simple, and pretty quick. The only must-follow rule is to bring the feta to room temperature before cooking it. This will ensure that the cheese gets uniformly soft and flavored.
California-Style Crunchy Fried Avocado Taco Recipe
This twist on fried avocado tacos is a bit sunnier and breezier and just a bit more California with loads of freshness.
We recommend including topping it with spicy tomatillo salsa, chipotle crema, and some shredded cabbage for a bit of cool and crunch.
Blood Orange Olive Oil Polenta Cake Recipe
This gorgeous Blood Orange and Olive Oil Polenta Cake is not too sweet with a texture kind of like if cornbread meets pound cake. We consider it a “snack cake” in the same way that coffee cake is — meaning you could have it with coffee for breakfast, as a snack, or dessert.
This mix of almond flour, polenta, olive oil, and citrus is 100% percent Californian. It uses some of our favorite local products — citrus, olive oil, almonds — and is a sunnier riff on the classic.
Kumquat Pistachio Brown Butter Tea Cakes Recipe
When I think of late winter in Central Coast California, citrus immediately comes to mind. While there are a ton of varieties and types to choose from, one I have big love for is kumquats.
In this recipe, they share the spotlight with a few other ingredients that come from this part of the state — almonds and pistachios. These kumquat Pistachio Brown Butter Tea Cakes are a keeper! Above all, this is a simple-to-make dessert recipe that is perfect for tea time, but with a California twist!
Aida is a food and travel expert, author, chef, Food Network personality, founder of the travel services company, Salt & Wind Travel, and partner at the creative agency and educational platform, Border Free Media. She has made her career in food travel media and has crisscrossed the globe searching out the best food destinations. Aida’s cookbook, Keys To The Kitchen, is a go-to for home cooks who want to become more adventurous cooks.
We know you’ll love her easy strawberry agua fresca recipe! If you love honey as much as we do, check out our favorite recipes using honey next!
Easy Strawberry Agua Fresca Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh strawberries about 1 pound, hulled and halved, plus a couple more for garnish
- ⅓ cup California honey plus more for garnish
- 4 to 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice from about 3 limes
- 2 cups water
- Pinch kosher salt
- Tajin or other chile salt for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the strawberries with the honey and lime juice in a large nonreactive bowl and stir to coat well. Set aside to macerate until the strawberries release juices, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once ready, place the strawberries and their juices in a blender, add the pinch of salt, and the 2 cups of water. Cover and blend on high until the mixture is very smooth. If you’d like the mixture to be very smooth, pass it through a fine mesh sieve.
- At this point you can serve the agua fresca immediately over ice or you can chill it. Right before you going to serve the drink, you can make a honey-chile rim . To do so, add honey to one part of the glass then dip it in some of the chile powder, pressing to adhere. Fill with ice and agua fresca then garnish with a halved or sliced strawberry.