Strawberry Iced Tea

 

It is spring here in California and strawberries are everywhere. You can get a huge container of organic strawberries for $2 at my local organic market. I never have a problem finding something to do with strawberries! They are my all time favorite fruit to work with in the kitchen. Things are also heating up outside. I wanted to make a very low cal refresher for during the day. So I pulled out the tea and got to work. 

It just so happens that I made this tea on the day my daughter ran her first 5k marathon. I was so happy when she called me after the marathon and asked if her and her friend came over for lunch. 

Here is a before and after picture of her and her friend at the marathon. It was called "run or dye 5k". So that is why they are covered in dye. 

It was a fundraiser for lung cancer and right now we are all about cancer awareness since we just lost a good friend to cancer. 

They loved the tea. Then my curious husband tried it. He loved it too. It tastes exactly like it should. A strawberry flavored iced tea. Light, refreshing and good for you. Especially if you choose to use stevia as the sweetener and not sugar. 

Strawberry Iced Tea

adapted from Thinking outside the bag

2 cups whole fresh strawberries
4 cups water
2 Tbsp loose black tea (in a large tea ball, TSac, or cheesecloth)

1/4 cup of sugar -or- 1/8 cup stevia
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Clean and hull your strawberries.

Boil 4 cups of water, and add your tea. (in a large tea ball, TSac, or cheesecloth).

Dissolve the sugar or stevia in the tea.
Place the tea leaves in the other cup of hot water and steep for 3-4 minutes.
Place strawberries in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.
Strain the puréed berries and discard the seeds.
Mix together the puréed berries, tea and lemon juice.
Chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice, using strawberries as garnish.