Chilled Mexican Cucumber and Lime Agua Fresca with Chia and Fresh Mint

Stir the chia seeds into 1 cup of the cold water in a small bowl and set aside for 20 minutes, whisking once or twice, until every seed has swelled into a soft gel-coated bead. Loose dry seeds sink and clump, so let them hydrate fully.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 large English cucumbers, roughly chopped
• 6 cups cold water, divided
• 2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
• 1/3 cup agave nectar or granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 20 fresh mint leaves, plus sprigs to garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Ice, for serving
• 1 lime, cut into wheels
• 1 small cucumber, sliced into ribbons for garnish

Instructions

1. Stir the chia seeds into 1 cup of the cold water in a small bowl and set aside for 20 minutes, whisking once or twice, until every seed has swelled into a soft gel-coated bead. Loose dry seeds sink and clump, so let them hydrate fully.
2. Blend the chopped cucumbers with 2 cups of the remaining cold water on high for 45 seconds, until completely liquefied and pale green with a light foam on top.
3. Strain the cucumber puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pitcher, pressing firmly on the solids with the back of a ladle to extract every drop. Discard the pulp left behind.
4. Add the lime juice, agave nectar, salt and the last 3 cups of cold water to the pitcher. Stir well and taste — cucumbers vary in sweetness, so adjust the agave a spoonful at a time.
5. Slap the mint leaves between your palms and drop them into the pitcher whole. Leaving them intact perfumes the drink without releasing the bitterness that comes from tearing or muddling.
6. Pour in the hydrated chia and stir thoroughly, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the drink chills through and the flavors marry.
7. Stir once more right before serving — the chia settles — and pour over plenty of ice, garnishing each glass with a lime wheel, a cucumber ribbon and a sprig of mint.
8. Aguas frescas are sold from wide glass barrels called vitroleros in markets across Mexico, ladled out in flavors that shift with whatever is in season. Cucumber-lime is among the most restorative, and adding chia turns it into agua de chia, a combination that predates the modern health-drink aisle by several centuries. The seeds give the drink a gentle body and a little staying power, which is precisely what you want from something you are drinking to survive an afternoon in the sun.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 90 kcal
• Protein: 2g
• Fat: 2g
• Carbohydrates: 18g
• Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 13g
• Sodium: 105mg