Lemon Squash n Pickled Onions !!!

Labor Day weekend is just around the corner and we are planning a road trip... thanks to Anupama's Picnic Food event, I now have so many tasty options to pack for munching n brunching.

One of my favourite things to do before road trips is pickled onions, just because it can be made way ahead of time, its easy to do, is ready in no time , jazzes the taste of any plain old sandwich/ wrap n looks gorgeous hot pink :) .

All you need is :

2 large thinly sliced red onions, i use the food processor,
some boiling hot water,
juice of 1 -2 lime/lemon, preferably lime,
salt , to taste.

Method :

Pour boiling water over the sliced onions n keep aside for few secs. Strain the onions in a colander, remove all the water by tapping the colander and dump the onions in a container, to this add the lemon juice n salt n refrigerate till you use.

You can immediately see the onions start to change their color. These onions go well with tacos too. Though this is the basic recipe for pickled onions, u can add green chillies or sugar or any pickling spice .... try any combination of flavors.

Now time for some home made lemonade. Why not make a lemon squash ? Keep it in your cooler/ icebox n just stir in some water when ever you want to have a cool sip.

I flavored mine with ginger, you can use mint or both ginger n mint ....what ever u like ...

Feel free to add n reduce the quantity of lemons n sugar, depending on how sour the lemons are n how sweet u like your lemonade. The following recipe yields 1ltr. of syrup

Ingredients:

2 cups lemon juice,
3 cups water,
3" ginger root, chopped into thin slices,
2 cups sugar,
1 tbsp white vinegar.

Method:

Boil water n sugar in a pan , till the sugar dissolves (at this stage u can add more sugar if you want , but make sure that u boil the syrup after sugar is added) . When all the sugar is dissolved remove it from heat n let cool completely. Then add the lemon juice and vinegar, mix well, throw in the ginger , cover n let it steep for at least 12 hrs , the more you steep the better. Now remove the ginger slices with a spoon, give it a stir n store in a sterilized glass bottle. You can also strain it before transferring into the bottle. Keep refrigerated.

Once the syrup is made , all you have to do is, stir in 1 part of the syrup (or to taste) to 3 parts of water n enjoy.