Cucumber Margarita Recipe and Sunday Funday Appetizers
Welcome to a Sunday Funday post; a restaurant review combined with a recipe that might just give you some fantastical ideas for cooking up your own Sunday Funday. Imagine how amazing you feel as a Mom when your family announces they are going to take you out for an afternoon cocktail appetizer extravaganza? First of all – delicious cocktails – yum. And who needs to imagine – you can see the look on face in the above photo. LYFE Kitchen invited us in to sample some of their latest and greatest appetizers and cocktails. LYFE Kitchen is in Evanston, Illinois – and as you can see by their MENU, they have a great gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, or whatever you would care to choose selection. Today we had our hearts set on cocktails and appetizers.One of our favorite cocktails of the day was a cucumber margarita (above). While the below margarita recipe is not LYFE’s secret formula, it does come as close as I can duplicate and is pretty quick to whip up and delicious to drink down.
- 6 ounces 100 percent agave tequila silver
- 2 ounces cointreau or orange liquor
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
- 6 ounces fresh lime juice
- 2 ounces agave nectar
- sliced lime and cucumber for garnish
- Muddle together sliced cucumber and tequila, let sit overnight in the refrigerator (or as long as possible). Strain tequila and cucumber and combine with all other ingredients in a pitcher.
- Stir.
- Rim glasses with lime and salt.
- Serve over ice with cucumber slices and lime as a garnish.
- BOOM. Done.
LYFE Kitchen has a fantastic brand new selection of specialty cocktails – Kelsey, my 24-year-old daughter, chose the Pomegranate Sangria (above) and Cucumber Margarita as her favorites. While I liked the “Herb Wall” which is a lovely mix if gin and rosemary simple syrup. Another cocktail, “The Cure”, was a great mix of whiskey and mint.
Their appetizers were to-die-for yummy as well, and like everything at LYFE, the dishes were punctuated with fresh herbs. In my mind it’s the herbs that pack the heavy punch power in the dishes, making them memorable.
Our first appetizer was the smoky flavored Chunky Guacamole that’s served with freshly baked chips, followed by the Edamame Hummus Plate. Of the two, I preferred the hummus — the combination of crunchy radish with the edamame was pretty darned good.
My husband, Luis, is a chicken man and preferred the Unfried Buffalo Chicken Strips (I was only permitted a tiny taste). We also tried their sweet corn chowder soup. Delicous! Calories for the appetizer dishes were well within the “Shawna’s Current Diet Safety Boundary” according to the menu and as we all know; cocktail calories do not count. We all had a delicious time tasting our way through the restaurant – thank you LYFE Kitchen for having my family out for a Sunday Funday we are not likely to forget (refer to the top photo). Enjoy the cucumber margarita recipe and hit the restaurant next time you’re in town my peeps.
