Watermelon Basil Margarita

First off, HI! It’s been a very long minute since I’ve posted a recipe to the blog. I’ve been so dang busy with the cookbook (eek! Stay tuned for pre-orders soon!) and lots of travel that it’s been impossible to get a recipe up. I think the perfect intro back into posting is a summery cocktail, don’t you agree?

As we all know, I’m a margarita gal. Lucky for me my in-laws are margarita people too, so we got to enjoy them on the East Coast last week.
They had a fresh and yummy watermelon so I whipped up margs for everyone while my kiddos splashed in the hot tub. Please enjoy this simple recipe! Perfect, perfect, perfect for summer.

WATERMELON BASIL MARGARITA
INGREDIENTS PER COCKTAIL:
- 2 oz silver tequila
- 1 oz triple sec or Gran Marnier
- the juice of one lime
- the juice of 1/2 cup of fresh watermelon, smashed
- 2 leaves of chiffonade basil

DIRECTIONS:
1.) Roll and chiffonade basil and place in small bowl.
2.) Slice fresh watermelon into cubes and add to basil. Mash watermelon to produce juice.
3.) Add all ingredients (including basil strips) over ice and shake or stir. A salted rim is fabulous with this drink!

NOTE: For a stronger basil flavor, make a basil simple syrup. Add one cup of sugar with one cup of water and boil on the stove with a whole handful of chiffonade basil. Once it’s boiled for 2 minutes, remove from heat and cool. I love the strong basil flavor but I generally go without the syrup because the Triple Sec makes this plenty sweet for me. Find your happy medium and enjoy this yummy cocktail!