Strawberry-Limeade Iced Tea

When our weather turns hot in Texas a cold glass of anything is pure heaven.  This flavored tea is part of April's Southern Living's spread on Strawberry Delights.

The base recipe is for Strawberry Limeade which is great all by itself.  You can add a little spritzer water to zing it up a bit.

For the iced tea version, you simply substitute fresh brewed tea for the iced water.

The strawberry limeade mixture doesn't lend itself as a sweetener for the tea, just flavors it nicely.  Between the two, I would stay with the base recipe and leave out the tea.  The strawberry and lime flavors are more prominent and the coloring is much prettier without the tea giving it a murky look.

Strawberry Limeade Iced Tea
Makes 7 cups

Ingredients:
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
4 cups freshly brewed tea, chilled
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 large limes)

Mise en place:

• brew tea and set aside to cool, then chill in refrigerator
• wash, core and slice strawberries into large mixing bowl
• measure out sugar
• juice limes

Method:
Stir together the strawberries and sugar in a large bowl; crush strawberries with a wooden spoon, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Process strawberry mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.

Press mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher; using the back of the spoon to squeeze out juice; discard solids. 

Add cold tea and lime juice, stirring until blended.  Cover and chill 2 to 4 hours.
For Strawberry Limeade, use 4 cups cold water instead of tea.