Slightly Sweet & Totally Refreshing Lemon Cucumber Ice Cubes with Lemon Basil

Just like Greg and I have been getting a ton of zucchini from our garden, we have also been getting tons of cucumber! I have been making cucumber salads galore and even juicing cucumbers for a healthy detox drink. The other day I came across these Lemon Cucumber Spa Pops on Family Fresh Cooking. I don't have any popsicle molds (but I think I really need some), so I decided to make ice cubes instead. They are very refreshing! I just added 2 - 3 ice cubes to an eight ounce glass of water and it tasted perfect. On the Fourth of July, we took some friends out on the boat, and we took the ice cubes with us and drank refreshing beverages out on the Chesapeake Bay. I added lemon basil to the ice cubes because it is also growing in our garden, and I am not exactly sure what to do with it. If you don't have any, you can use regular basil.  Enjoy & be refreshed!

Recipe for Slightly Sweet & Totally Refreshing Lemon Cucumber Ice Cubes with Lemon Basil

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup of cold water
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
2 - 3 Tbsp. of pure maple syrup
1 small cucumber, peeled
6 lemon basil leaves (or regular basil leaves), torn in small pieces

DIRECTIONS:
Peel the cucumber with a vegetable peeler to get thin pieces from the harder part of the cucumber (don't use the soft and seedy part). Cut the thin pieces in half or in thirds to get small pieces to put into the cubes. Put the cold water, lemon juice, and maple syrup into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup and stir well. Pour into an ice cube tray (or trays) and fill each one about halfway full. Drop the pieces of the cucumber and lemon basil into each one. Fill up with the rest of the lemon mixture. Put into the freezer for a couple hours. Drop desired amount of lemon cucumber ice cubes into a glass of water for a slightly sweet and totally refreshing beverage!

Recipe Adapted from: Family Fresh Cooking

Have you  ever used lemon basil in a main dish? What did you put it in? I am looking for ideas!