Are you ready to drink the rainbow? In this post, I’m going to walk you through 7 different flavors for making rainbow lemonade.

Growing up, I had a big lemon tree in the backyard that produced lemons like nothing I’d ever seen before or since. It would have tons of fruit about ready to ripen and it would be forming new flower buds already. It was basically making lemons non-stop. I guess it helped that we were in Arizona and had no winter to speak of.

But because of all those backyard lemons, I have long loved making lemonade. Case in point: my frozen mint lemonade recipe that came from the lemons and trying to escape the heat of summer.

And, somewhere down the line, I decided I needed to make rainbow lemonades. I thought it would make a pretty striking photo (which it did). But I did not anticipate the amount of work I would end up putting in to make this happen.

You could make a flight of colored rainbow lemonades by just adding some simple food coloring to plain lemonade. But that doesn’t seem as exciting to me as using specific flavors for each of the colors.

And so, the long process began. (Note that it will only be as long if you also plan on making all of the flavors, picking one or two will speed up the process significantly).

Prep Fruit for Rainbow Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or, I guess in my case, when life gives you a Costco membership and you buy three large bags of lemons, make 7 batches of flavored rainbow lemonade. Plus an extra batch for helping me out behind the scenes.

One of the toughest parts of this recipe was juicing all of the lemons. I really should have thought and planned ahead. I used this metal hand juicer to squeeze every last drop from the lemons I had. By hand. It was quite the tiring process.

For doing just one or two of the flavors, hand juicing wouldn’t be terrible. But for more lemons, I would highly recommend a KitchenAid juicer attachment if you have a stand mixer, or this OXO reamer juicer for less hand stress than a squeezing juicer, or a Cuisinart electric citrus juicer.

Your hands will thank you.

With the lemons juiced, make sure to wash and cut any of the other fruit that you will be using to have them ready to go. I recommend juicing the lemons and slicing the fruit the same day you will be making the lemonade. Fresher is better.

Start with a Good Lemonade Base

We’re going to need a good base for our lemonade. A while ago I came across a lemonade recipe that I ended up loving. It is the recipe that I use to this day and my recipe here is based in part on that original perfect lemonade recipe from Simply Recipes.

The recipe involves making a simple syrup with water and sugar. I know it sounds like it may be scary and complicated, but it’s actually very simple (pun!).

The simple syrup is just combining the water and sugar together over low heat. It ensures that the sugar fully dissolves and makes for a smooth lemonade. And, in my opinion, makes for the perfect base for making rainbow lemonade. However, in the next section, I’ll cover getting the flavors into the simple syrup as it cooks.

Please do not use frozen lemonade concentrate or that strange pre-squeezed lemon juice. Those may work in some circumstances. But for our purposes in this recipe, it will simply not be the same.

How to Flavor the Rainbow Lemonade

Now that we have a good base for our lemonade, it’s time to add the flavor. For this recipe, we’ll add the flavor at the same time that we make the simple syrup.

For the fruits, we will blend up 1 cup of fruit, add it in with the water and sugar when heating, and then strain it out using a quality fine mesh strainer. I don’t think that using cheesecloth is necessary, but if you want your lemonade super-smooth then go ahead. With the blue raspberry one, just add the teaspoons of liquid to the simple syrup, no need to strain it. And with the lavender one, we are basically making a lavender tea in simple syrup. So, add the lavender flowers to the water and sugar and heat it up. Then, when the sugar is dissolved, remove it from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes to steep. Then strain out the flowers with a fine mesh strainer.

For the color and flavor combinations that make up my rainbow lemonade see the chart bullet points below:

• Red – Strawberry
• Orange – Mango
• Yellow – Pineapple
• Green – Kiwi
• Blue – Blue Raspberry
• Indigo – Blueberry
• Violet – Lavender

For the most part, you can choose whether you would or wouldn’t like to use food coloring in the lemonade. All of the flavors except the lavender will provide some color without adding food coloring.

But the colors will be a little less vibrant, more muted, and natural without added food coloring. Either way, they will end up tasting the same.

So let’s get to it and get to juicing those lemons.

How did yours turn out?

My personal favorite flavor was the red strawberry lemonade.

I’d love to hear when you try any of these rainbow lemonade flavors! Let me know which flavor you like most. Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Rainbow Lemonade Flavors

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DrinksDifficulty: Easy

Servings

5-6

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

This is a simple recipe of 7 different flavors to make rainbow lemonade, which can have kids enjoying the sweet taste of their own creation! Choose the flavor you want the most, or go all-in for a lemonade menagerie that will make anyone’s lemonade stand jealous. Note that the lemonade base ingredients must be made for each flavor/color you make.

Ingredients

• Lemonade Base

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• 3-4 cups cold water

• 2 to 3 drops food coloring, as desired

• Red

• 1 cup sliced strawberries

• Orange

• 1 cup cubed mango

• Yellow

• 1 cup cubed pineapple

• Green

• 1 cup sliced kiwi fruit

• Blue

• 3 teaspoons liquid blue raspberry drink mix

• Indigo

• 1 cup blueberries

• Violet

• 2 tablespoons dry lavender flowers

Directions

• Begin by squeezing the lemon juice and washing and chopping up the fruit for any of the flavors you plan to make
• Add the sugar and 1 cup of water to a small saucepan
• For any fruit-based colors/flavors, blend the fruit up until smooth and add it to the saucepan. For the blue raspberry one, simply add the amount of drink mix to the saucepan. For the lavender one, add the flowers to the saucepan.
• Put the saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then remove it from the heat – for lavender lemonade, steep the flowers after removing it from the heat for 5 minutes before going to the next step
• Strain the mixture with a fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher
• To the pitcher, add 1 cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, 2 to 3 drops of food coloring if desired, and 3 to 4 cups of cold water to taste
• Repeat steps 1-6 for all of the flavors you would like to make
• Pour, sip, and enjoy!

Notes

• Note that the prep times are for a single flavor, so making more will definitely take more time – juicing the lemons was rough by hand, and making the different simple syrups and washing everything in between to not cross flavors took a lot of time…

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The post 7 Flavors to Make Rainbow Lemonade appeared first on Do You Roux?.

This simple strawberry and rhubarb smoothie recipe is an easy way to use the first fruits of springtime. The combination of strawberries and rhubarb is a great match, and together they make for a delicious drink with a delightfully tart strawberry-rhubarb flavor.

Spring is here and I’ve actually grown strawberries myself before. Both strawberries and rhubarb are some of the earliest produce to ripen in late spring and early summer. And when strawberries are sweet and ripe, you know what that means – a healthy strawberry smoothie!

My wife and I enjoy growing a small little garden in the backyard wherever we live.

There’s something very satisfying about growing food for yourself. We grew some small strawberries when we lived in Texas, and I have actually ordered some bare root strawberry plants that should arrive at my house in a few weeks for planting in our new house.

This is a very simple and quick recipe since all we have to do is throw things in a blender. It has two main fruits both taste great as well, so there’s no complaints here.

Strawberries and Rhubarb

Strawberries and rhubarb. The two ingredients are commonly found together in many pies, puddings, and other desserts, but why do they make such a good combination? What is the magical connection between the two fruits that makes the resulting product so amazing?

The main reason that strawberries and rhubarb are so good together is that the tart flavors complement each other well. Ripe strawberries have a fruity, sweet flavor, while rhubarb has a tart, earthy taste. These two fruits make a perfect pair because they both complement each other, and together they taste amazing.

Plus, when they are blended together the flavors seem to intensify.

Strawberries and rhubarb are both very healthy, and their health benefits go hand in hand. They are both high in fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins. They are also very low in calories and fat.

I’ve used strawberries before in my almond and berry salad and three berry syrup. But this is the first time that I have used rhubarb for a recipe on the site.

Combine these fruits with a few other key ingredients and you can get a creamy, delicious drink that is sure to hit the spot.

Variations on a Strawberry and Rhubarb Smoothie

Almost all smoothie recipes are quite simple. I add everything into my Vitamix and then rip it until everything is smooth. Sometimes with a little pausing and tamping things down a bit to get rid of those pesky air pockets.

The recipe calls for two to three tablespoons of honey. You can easily adjust this up or down depending on how sweet all of your other ingredients are. Strawberries can vary greatly in their level of sweet vs tart. So make sure to add less at the start, taste the smoothie, and then add in a little bit more honey if needed before blending it in.

While this strawberry-rhubarb smoothie recipe is very simple, you can use other fruits in place of the strawberries. I think that the best pairing for the rhubarb is strawberries, but you could also try out the recipe with any other berry and see how it tastes. Raspberry, blueberry, or blackberry could all make a great combo with the rhubarb.

You may try subbing milk, heavy cream, coconut milk, almond milk, or regular yogurt for the Greek yogurt used in the recipe.

I know it’s barely spring, but it’s never too early to start thinking about in-season fruit and smoothies. Smoothies are great for breakfast and are extremely easy to make. This strawberry and rhubarb smoothie is one of my favorites because it’s a lighter option for breakfast.

So, I hope you enjoy gulping it down like I did.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this strawberry and rhubarb smoothie! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Spring Strawberry and Rhubarb Smoothie

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Breakfast, DrinksDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

5

minutes

This healthy smoothie recipe uses seasonal springtime ingredients to create a deliciously tart strawberry and rhubarb smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb

• 1 cup fresh strawberries

• 1 ripe banana

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 2 to 3 tablespoons honey

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 to 3 cups of ice

Directions

• Add all ingredients to a blender in the order listed
• Blend until smooth, pausing to remove air pockets if needed
• Pour and serve

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The post Spring Strawberry and Rhubarb Smoothie appeared first on Do You Roux?.

This healthy salad is made with almonds, fresh berries, and a splash of tangy blueberry vinaigrette. It’s the perfect berry salad for a light lunch or side dish.

And this salad is all about the berries. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

I’ve mentioned before in my gorgonzola pear salad recipe that I haven’t always had the best idea of what a salad could be. It would conjure up images of sad greens with no toppings and flavorless dressing.

Not so here! With the perfect balance of sweet and savory, this salad will leave you feeling like you just had a big bowl of yummy goodness.

This salad was inspired by my wife’s love of the Nuts About Berries Salad at Cafe Zupas. However, I chose to make a blueberry vinaigrette instead of the poppyseed dressing that they pair with their berry salad. The dressing packs a nice punch of flavor, but it’s even a delicious berry salad without the blueberry vinegarette.

Hopefully, you enjoy this recipe as much as my wife and I do.

Making the Blueberry Vinaigrette

I typically start off by making the dressing. Then I can set it aside in the fridge and all it may need is a quick shake for it to be ready to serve when the rest of the salad is ready. Plus, it can give all those dressing ingredients a bit of time to mix flavors.

The best part about most salad dressings is the fact that you can usually just toss all the ingredients into a blender. You can also shake or whisk it together as well.

Vinegar and lemon juice add acidity to the dressing. The honey and blueberries lend both sweetness and flavor. Olive oil helps provide body and a base for the rest of the dressing. A bit of salt and pepper are good finishing touches.

In this case, I used red wine vinegar for the blueberry vinaigrette. The flavor of the red wine vinegar really brings out the best in the blueberries.

As I said above, I like to make my dressing a few hours before I plan to serve the salad but it’s totally up to you. It can be made right before serving as well.

Making the Berry Salad

This salad is just the kind of thing that you can make for a casual lunch or side salad. It’s light but still packed with healthy and filling ingredients. You can also make substitutions to use whatever ingredients you have on hand (more on that in the next section…). And it only takes about 10 minutes to fully put together.

Salads are all about fresh ingredients. So, it’s important to use the freshest ingredients possible when making this. The crisp, crunch, and flavor of fresh berries and greens are so delightful.

Making the salad itself is quite easy.

First, make sure to wash all of the salad greens and berries. Then add all of the salad greens to a large bowl. Cut the strawberries into slices. Now add all of the berries on top of the greens. Top it with almonds and cheese. Then toss everything together and drizzle the blueberry vinaigrette on top.

It comes together quickly and you really just need to add all of the ingredients to a large bowl. Though you may want to reserve the dressing for diners to drizzle to their own liking.

What to Put In a Berry Salad?

First, I’d recommend trying out the recipe as listed below. This includes strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries as the fruit. For toppings, I include mozzarella cheese and candied sliced almonds. Then drizzle the blueberry vinaigrette on top.

But I am definitely in favor of mixing things up with a recipe and trying out different combinations. Plus, sometimes you don’t have everything on hand for a recipe and you need to make some substitutions. Here are some of my thoughts:

Nuts – I use some homemade cinnamon candied sliced almonds for this salad. Pecans and walnuts could be great subsitutions for the almonds. And you don’t necessarily need to use candied nuts, I just think it lends a nice crunch and sweetness to the berry salad. The real purpose of including nuts in the salad is for the texture and crunch.

Cheese – I use some thick-shredded mozzarella for its creamy texture. But changing up the cheese is probably one of the easiest ways to mix up the flavor of the salad. Try goat cheese or gorgonzola for a powerful tangy punch. Use feta for a salty, creamy addition.

Fruit – I obviously think that this salad should have some berries – it is a berry salad after all. But if you want to sub out one type of berry or even just add to it, there are options. Try crisp apples or pears, sweet grapes, or even sliced kiwi as an addition to the berries in this salad.

Dressing – The restaurant salad that this recipe was inspired by uses a poppyseed dressing. So you can give that a try. My wife might even prefer that as a dressing, because she really likes poppyseeds. Any other lightly sweetened vinaigrette should also work with this salad. Or try using strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries for the dressing instead of blueberries.

If you’re looking for something different this summer, try out this fresh berry salad with all of the summer berries. It’s so delicious and easy to make!

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this almond and berry salad! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Almond and Berry Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SaladsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

15

minutes

This almond and berry salad is loaded with berries and paired with a delicious blueberry vinaigrette for a fresh, tangy, sweet flavor

Ingredients

• Blueberry Vinaigrette

• 1 cup blueberries

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

• Berry Salad

• 2 cups strawberries

• 8 cups baby red butter lettuce greens

• 1 cup blueberries

• 1 cup blackberries

• 1 cup raspberries

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1/2 cup cinnamon candied sliced almonds

• 1 cup prepared blueberry vinaigrette

Directions

• Blueberry Vinaigrette
• Add all vinaigrette ingredients to a blender or food processor
• Pulse for 15 to 30 seconds until the dressing is fully combined
• Refrigerate the vinaigrette until ready to use
• Berry Salad
• Cut the strawberries into thin slices
• Add the greens to a large bowl and top them with the strawberry slices, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, mozzarella, and candied almonds
• Toss the salad together
• Serve the salad and top each serving with the blueberry vinaigrette

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The post Almond and Berry Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Growing up I would have Knott’s berry syrup with pancakes, waffles, and frybread scones. But now I can’t seem to find pre-made berry syrup anywhere. Luckily, it is very very easy to make your own with this berry syrup recipe. Simple ingredients, easy to make, delicious to eat.

This three-berry syrup recipe includes blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. This is a great medley, but you could also substitute any of the berries for a different variety. You’ll still have a delicious syrup and you can tailor it to your own tastes, or to the berries that you happen to have on hand.

Breakfasts will not be the same once you learn how to make your own syrup from scratch.

Making the Berry Syrup

The best part about this recipe besides the flavor is the fact that you can use either fresh or frozen berries. Out of season it is difficult to find truly ripe and delicious berries. But I have frozen berries when ripe for use later in the year. And this is a perfect recipe for using your frozen fruit.

To start the recipe, dump all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Turn on the heat and start cooking it while stirring. Then mash all of the berries as much as possible. Use your stirring utensil to mash the berries, or use a potato masher to make mashing them easier. Continue cooking the syrup until it reaches the desired consistency.

When it is done cooking, it can be served as is. But if you want a smooth syrup without any of the seeds and remaining pulp, you can strain it. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a separate container.

Once you’ve made the syrup, use it immediately to have it hot. Or chill it in the fridge to serve it cold. And it can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week while still remaining fresh.

Using the Syrup

Use this berry syrup recipe wherever it seems fit. I will typically use the syrup on pancakes, waffles, angel food cake, vanilla bean ice cream, frybread scones, and crepes. I haven’t tried it but it could be good as a syrup for some mixed sodas.

I highly recommend pairing this syrup recipe with some homemade whipped cream to top pancakes and perfect buttermilk waffles for the ultimate breakfast experience. If you want some sauce options for topping pancakes, make this berry syrup along with some salted caramel sauce for some variety.

Let me know if you have any other great uses for this three berry syrup recipe. I’d love to try it out with anything else. Basically, I just want any excuse to make more of this tasty sauce.

Easy Homemade Three Berry Syrup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: BreakfastDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

This three berry medley heats up to make a delicious syrup recipe that’s lick-your-plate good

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries

• 1 cup blackberries

• 1 and 1/2 cups strawberries (12 large berries)

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions

• Add all ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat and cook while stirring for 10 minutes
• When the berries are cooked and soft, mash them with a masher or spatula
• After it is all mashed, continue to simmer for 5 minutes
• For a thicker syrup, cook for another 5 to 15 minutes
• For a smoother syrup, strain through a fine mesh strainer
• Serve immediately for a hot syrup, or chill for a few hours to serve cold

Notes

• Keep for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge

The post Easy Homemade Three Berry Syrup Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Puppy chow is another dish with multiple names, just like german pancakes. Muddy buddies. Monkey munch. Muddy munch. But we’ll call this our puppy chow recipe. But we’ll Valentine’s it up for good measure.

History has already shown peanut butter and chocolate are an amazing combo. Whoever had the idea to add cereal for crunch and then coat it with even more powdered sugar… wow. Good on you. This turns it into a perfect combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, chocolatey, eat-it-with-your-hands goodness.

Besides that it came about as a homemade snack in the Midwest USA somewhere, not much is known exactly about the history of this recipe. There are tons of variations out there in the wild, but this is the one my wife and I use – though usually without all of the added red and pink candies.

This puppy chow recipe is great for parties and group gatherings (when we can have those again), as well as for general snacking. It is super easy to make, relatively inexpensive, and can be made in quite large batches. No wonder it became a hit as a treat for a crowd.

Mix-Ins for Puppy Chow

Muddy buddies are great on their own. I have a brother-in-law who loves it so much that we’ve given him batches of puppy chow as birthday and Christmas presents before. And I’m not sure that he willingly shared any of it. And you can totally make this by leaving out the mix-ins and using just the Chex, powdered sugar, chocolate, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla.

But that can also be the most fun part of this puppy chow recipe – deciding what you think would go best in the mix. What we’ve gathered here are the perfect mix-ins to give it a Valentine’s Day feel. Including a punch of color and flavor from some freeze-dried strawberries. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t mix it up however you like. Below are some possibilities to get the juices flowing. Let your creativity go wild.

Mix-in options:

• M&M’s – any of their many varieties
• Pretzel Sticks
• Butterfinger pieces
• Marshmallows
• Peanuts
• Reese’s Pieces
• Frosted Cheerios
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Whichever way you mix it, it will turn out delicious. So get ready for powder-covered fingers and dig in to this puppy chow.

Valentine’s Day Puppy Chow Recipe

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

2

minutes

Total time

17

minutes

Salty, sweet, crunchy, chocolatey, eat-it-with-your-hands puppy chow recipe

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups freeze-dried strawberries

• 3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

• 9 cups Rice Chex, divided

• 1 and 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate

• 3/4 cup peanut butter

• 5 tablespoons butter

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 1 cup mini marshmallows

• 1 and 1/2 cups red, pink, and white M&M’s

Directions

• Pulse the freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until they become a fine powder
• Add 1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar to the food processor and blend until fully combined into a light-pink sugar, then set aside
• Evenly divide the rice Chex into two large mixing bowls
• Combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl
• Melt the chocolate mixture on high for 1 minute in the microwave, stirring after it finishes
• Melt it again for 30 seconds in the microwave, repeating until it is fully melted
• Add the vanilla to the chocolate mix and stir to combine
• Pour about half of the melted chocolate mix over one of the bowls of Chex, then set the chocolate aside
• Stir the Chex and chocolate to combine
• Mix in two cups of powdered sugar, stirring until everything is fully coated
• Reheat the remaining chocolate mix for 30 seconds in the microwave if needed – it needs to be able to pour smoothly
• Pour the remaining chocolate over the second bowl of Chex and stir to combine
• Mix in the strawberry powdered sugar until the Chex are fully coated
• Combine the marshmallows, M&M’s, and the white- and pink-covered Chex in one of the large mixing bowls until everything is evenly distributed

Notes

• Store mixed puppy chow in an airtight container for up to a week – if it hasn’t already been eaten on day 1, that is

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