cucumber mint sorbet

I have quite a lot of cucumbers, and my mint patch is no slouch either. Pondering how best to use some of the excess, I wondered if there were any recipes online for cucumber sorbet. Lo and behold, there were many! Of course, I fiddled around with them and what follows is the result...

You'll need an ice cream maker, cucumbers, mint leaves, sugar, and water. That's it.

Make a mint-infused simple syrup by combining one cup water, 2 cups sugar, and a large fistful of fresh mint leaves in a saucepan. Bring it to a slow boil on medium to medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not walk away from your pan as it can boil over pretty quickly if you're not paying attention. (Don't ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.) Using a slotted spoon, remove the leaves from the syrup and allow it to come to room temperature. Peel and roughly cut up three cucumbers, removing the ends, because sometimes they're bitter. Put them in a blender along with one cup* of the cooled syrup and blend until smooth. Strain into a bowl and refrigerate until cold. Pour this green goodness into your ice cream freezer and process according to the manufacturer's directions. That's it! Serve in a pretty dish and garnish with a mint sprig if you're feeling fancy.

It's an icy-cold, refreshing essence of summer on a spoon.

* You'll have some mint syrup left over. Feel free to use it any way you like, but it's a nice way to sweeten ice tea. Keep it refrigerated and use within a week.