A Minty Cooler From the Too Hot Tamales

DEAR SOS: Ciudad, the Two Hot Tamales’ restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, serves an amazingly refreshing drink with mint and lime. Do you think they’d share the recipe?

KELLY KRIEBS

Hermosa Beach

DEAR KELLY: This is a great tasting drink sans alcohol that the gals--Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger--call Minty Lime Cooler.

Add a shot of rum and you have a mojito, just in time for el Ano Nuevo.

Minty Lime Cooler

Active Work and Total Preparation Time: 5 minutes

1/2 cup lime juice

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup mint leaves

1 (12-ounce) bottle sparkling water, chilled

Lime slices and mint sprigs, for garnish

Combine the lime juice, sugar and mint leaves in a blender. Puree until smooth.

Fill 2 tall glasses half-full with ice cubes. Pour half of the lime juice concentrate in each. Top with sparkling water, and garnish with lime slices and mint leaves before serving.

2 servings. Each serving: 144 calories; 1 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 0 saturated fat; 39 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.24 gram fiber.

Variation: To make a mojito, pour 1 ounce of white rum into a tall glass with ice, and top with Minty Lime Cooler.