Pineapple Basil Lemonade Slush

Pineapple basil lemonade slush is just about the yummiest thing you could put together this summer.

As the thermometer ticks ever up I find myself struggling with what eat and what to drink. Everything just sounds too hot, too sweet, or just blah. So inevitably I start “inventing”, which lets face it, just means I’m going through my fridge and pantry and using up whatever is closest to going bad. However, in the case of the pineapple basil lemonade slush, there’s a bit of a story. But before I get to the story, let me say, I don’t even know if I’d had fresh pineapple in India before traveling abroad. If it was around, it alluded me succcessfully. On it’s own I love it but combined with basil, I love how herbal and fresh it tastes. It’s one of my favorite combinations.

The fresh pineapple gives this drink the perfect tropical flavors and the basil cuts the sugary sweetness of it all, lending a perfect herbal balance. Plus who doesn’t love homemade lemonade?! This is just the amazing twist your summer lemonade needed.

Now to the story: Long ago in a place far far worse..I was living in Columbus, Ohio and there was a polar vortex. One fine day, as I was shuffling to the AWFUL cafeteria on campus of..well there are really only 3 companies that people work for in Columbus, so you can assume one of them. I ran into, “The Canadian”. He was tall, muscular, handsome, impeccably dressed, and well spoken. I was wet, cold, late for a meeting, and not in the mood to be spoken to. He insisted on speaking to me and I insisted on ignoring him. Two short weeks later we were an item. It was romantic and the stuff fairy tales are made of. Except for the fact that he had forgotten to mention his wife, I mean the woman he was leaving, but still lived in his home, but was still maybe sleeping with, but but but….Priya was most displeased.

While in a relationship, I’m most amenable-ish, post relationship..there’s a bit of a scorched earth mother fucker thing and what not. But we’re still in the amenable part. So once we’d made some semblance of what his “actual” relationship status was, spoiler alert, it’s easy to lie when you’re in a long distance relationship, and Christmas was unpleasant. I joined him on a work trip to St. Louis..still not clear why – on both counts – the city and him. On the second day, he notified me that he’d rented us a house for the week so that we could get away from hotel life and enjoy a more traditional domestic relationship, OH and that he’s invited his immediate team to dinner the following day and that I was to cook. Yay me?

Come the next day, I’m in suburban St. Louis with no car, in an air b&b, and need to make dinner for 5. So post “Wtf am I going to do?” I called a cab (Screw you! I’m not that old! Circa 2014, Uber and St. Louise wasn’t a thing.) My driver was a rather frightening gentleman that insisted that I sit in the front seat with him and hold his shotgun…so..I did. Luckily, there was nothing sinister, beyond his natural musk. He just liked the company and hated the “dern gun rollin about”. Thirty hellish minutes later I was at Whole Foods. I did my shop, prayed for a new cab driver, and made my way back to the house. I started all of my prep only to realize that the stove, she no worky and there were NO cooking utensils. Plenty of pans and pots but NO COOKING UTENSILS!!!!!! So now it was a picnic menu, but I needed something to cook with…which meant back to the store. And what luck, yes, yes I did somehow get the same driver. So again, there we were together, both in the front seat, me holding his shotgun.

Fast forward to cooking, and I had pineapple that I was going to grill and a lot of basil I was going to fry…Instead was born the pineapple basil slush, and the alcohol loaded version that I gravely needed the next morning when he told me that the wife (who he’d previously stated had moved out) was refusing to move out and that he’d have her out by Christmas (which was another 6 months away) and not to worry his mommy and daddy were going to help. Yes, I won the jackpot on that one – a narcissistic mama’s boy with a penchant for bending the truth and misogyny. Couple that with Jeffrey, and I no longer date Canadian men.

I quickly realized from that point forward three things:

• I have atrocious taste in men, so inevitably if I’m attracted to you, likely you have a debilitating character flaw. Please seek help, it would mean celibacy for me, but good for mankind.
• I raise men for their forever homes – with VERY young women. It’s disturbing. It’s a proud moment for me to send these insane men to even more insane women.
• Pineapple basil lemonade slush is fabulous.

Summer drinks are where it’s at. Need a few more ideas? Try these:

Pineapple Basil Lemonade Slush

Course: DrinksCuisine: Punjabi FusionDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Total time

15

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 1/3 of a pineapple (minimum of 4 inches), cored

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 1/2 cup water

• 10 basil leaves

• 2 cups ice

Directions

• Skin and core pineapple, set aside.
• In a blender, mix lemon juice, sugar, and water. Give it a couple quick pulses to dissolve sugar.
• Add pineapple and blend till smooth.
• If you’d like the drink to be pulp free, sieve mixture and return to blender.
• Add in basil and pulse a few times to chop up the basil.
• Add ice and blend till desired slushiness is achieved.
• Serve immediately.

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