A Tonic for the Arteries

My mom's big on herbal remedies. She'll read something on the internet or the papers and will insist on trying out said healthy solutions. She's done the apple cider gallstone cleanse, noni juice, and a variety of weird-tasting herbal teas. Frankly, I'm not on the bandwagon, but I don't mind sampling them if they don't taste particularly nasty.

After reading the newspaper, she approached me with a request to concoct this heart tonic for her and my grandmother. And since I've done the labor, why not share it for those who are up for an all-natural remedy.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Mise en place: Ginger, garlic, lemons, apple cider vinegar, and honey.[/caption]

Tools-wise, you will need a juicer, a saucepan that can accommodate 4 cups of liquid, a whisk, and a measuring cup.

For the ingredients, you will need lots of ginger and garlic, about 4-5 lemons, some apple cider vinegar (preferably Bragg because it's organic), and some honey.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="553"] Juicer magic[/caption]

1. Peel the ginger and cut into small slices. Juice until you have 1 cup.


2. Peel the garlic and remove the the stems. (If you have sensitive hands, wear gloves. I find that handling garlic for a prolonged period will cause your fingers to start to sting.) Again, juice until you get 1 cup.


3. Squeeze out the lemons to achieve 1 cup.


4. Mix all of those in your saucepan with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it reduce to three-quarters, whisking occasionally to avoid any burnt parts. Let it cool.


5. Mix in 3 cups of honey and store in a container.

The instruction was to drink 1 tbs daily before breakfast to unblock the heart.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Turns greenish while cooking[/caption]

Tips:

Don't know if it's perhaps because my juicer is inefficient, but I find that you can re-juice the garlic and ginger pulp to produce quite a bit more liquid. In fact, I got to re-juice the pulp about 3 times until the juices were sufficiently extracted.

I zested the lemons and boiled the peels in hot water for a tasty lemon tea. I'd hate for that to go to waste.