Soothing Ginger Tea

By Carolanne

If one potful of the tea doesn't entirely vanquish your cold, you can return the chunks to the saucepan, add fresh water and repeat the process. A single crop of chopped ginger can keep a pot going all day.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces fresh gingerroot
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey, divided, or to taste
• 4 lemon wedges

Details

Adapted from abcnews.go.com

Preparation

Step 1

Rinse the ginger, cut off any bruised spots and cut it into (roughly) 1/2-inch pieces. In a medium saucepan, combine the ginger with 4 cups cold water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover partially and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste, and if strong enough, strain and pour into mugs. Add 1 teaspoon honey or more if desired to each portion and serve with a wedge of lemon.

*When making the tea, you might imagine that the first task would be to peel that gnarly gingerroot. In fact, it's not necessary. Just rinse it well and slice off any bruised spots, then chop it and pile all the chunks into a small saucepan. The more finely it's chopped, the better — but half-inch chunks are good enough. Cover the gingerroot with 1 inch of cold water, then bring the tea to a boil. (Starting with cold water pulls out more of the ginger flavor than starting with hot water.) The longer you simmer it, the stronger it becomes. So take a sip after 15 minutes or so and, if you approve, strain out the liquid. You can drink it straight up or embellished with honey and lemon — or even a pinch of cayenne.