Sweet Tart

Don’t confuse this recipe for Sweet Tart with Sweet-Tarts. The latter are a candy with no redeeming nutritional value. The former is an easy and healthy way to quench your thirst.  The “sweet” in the recipe name comes from apples, the “tart” from cranberries and lemon juice. The recipe calls for still water (as opposed to sparkling water; tap water will work just fine.)

The recipe and accompanying photo are from “Cool Waters: 50 Refreshing, Healthy, Homemade Thirst Quenchers,” a new book by food stylist and former chef Brian Preston-Campbell (Harvard Common Press, $12.95). The recipes are perfect for those of use who don’t like or don’t drink diet soda but want something flavorful and nonfattening to sip.  The ingredients are a listing of nutrient rich-foods: citrus fruits, berries, pomegranate juice, greens, teas and more. Most require no more equipment than a blender and a fine-mesh strainer.

One omission is nutrition information for the recipes. With the help of NutritionData.com, I learned that one serving of Sweet Tart contains just 24 calories, no fat, 1mg sodium, 6g carbs, 4g sugar and 7 percent of the daily value of Vitamin C. Unstrained, a serving contains 1g fiber, but some or most of the fiber will remain in the sieve when the liquid is poured into the pitcher.

SWEET TART

Yield: 6 servings

1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, plus more for garnish
1 large Red Delicious apple, cored and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small pinch of ground nutmeg
6 cups chilled still water, divided

1. Place cranberries, apple, lemon juice, nutmeg and 2 cups water in a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pitcher.

2. Add remaining 4 cups water and stir gently. Garnish the glasses with a few whole cranberries. They float!