Watermelon

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Summer

Storage?  Eating it as fresh and crisp as possible is the goal!

(2023) Watermelon Chaat

And that watermelon? Since I haven’t cut into last week’s, this one will be cut up and frozen for slushies like the one we have the recipe for here. I hear I’m not the only person doing that. Last week’s melon is being cut up tonight and will also go to tomorrow’s dinner party, as Watermelon Chaat. Recipe (from my standby The New York Times) below.

(2023) Victory Sandwich Bar’s Watermelon Salad  

So, so happy to see more melons this week. Cantaloupe and watermelon for us, alongside a spaghetti squash, red potatoes, slicer tomatoes and Kirby cucumbers.

I’ve got the perfect salad for two of those items. A watermelon and cucumber salad. Salads combining those two are not new, but I’ve never seen a recipe with a dressing like the one at Victory Sandwich Bar. AJC will be publishing this recipe Sunday and it will be online August 16, but down below is a sneak preview. So delicious! Substitute, or add, cantaloupe to the salad.

(2022) Watermelon Slushies

from https://sarahcopeland.substack.com/. She includes about 2 tablespoons of collagen powder in her slushies. I have never tried collagen powder so I leave it to you to decide if that’s something you want to add. I can’t see that a slushy would need that.

(2021) Melon, Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad

I haven’t cut into those melons yet. They’re in the refrigerator chilling. But I’m sharing a recipe I saw in the New York Times for a melon, cherry tomato and cucumber salad. Nothing particularly unusual in it, except for the concept. I just wouldn’t have thought to add melon to a tomato and cucumber salad. That’s the great thing about looking for and sharing recipes. It’s always fun for me to look for things that sounds intriguing and just a bit different from what I’d traditionally make.

(2021) Rasheeda Purdie’s Juneteenth Watermelon Ramen – shared by Mark Bittman

Seems to me watermelon recipes have been particularly abundant this year. I append one I found particularly intriguing down at the bottom of this message. It’s from Mark Bittman and it’s watermelon ramen – with many components that will use up all of that cannonball watermelon that was in this week’s box. Plus last week’s melon which is still sitting in the refrigerator (don’t ask why). Definitely a weekend project, and I hope to tackle it Sunday. I’m skipping the bean sprouts in the slaw since I’m not a fan. It seems sort of daunting, but really isn’t …. but I just loved the idea that you could turn your watermelon into poke. So creative! You may not want to make it, but it’s just fun to see what smart minds and innovative palates can dream up.

(2017) Watermelon Curry

This recipe is based on one from “660 Curries” by Raghavan Iyer . Apparently it’s a specialty of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was printed in Saveur magazine, I think, and they recommend for a thicker curry, remove half of the cooked watermelon pieces, blend them to a pulpy consistency, and stir them back into the curry. The ajwain and nigella seeds are available at Indian groceries and I think I’ve seen them at Sevananda. I can’t wait to try this one.

(2017) Watermelon Limeade

In two batches, pulse the watermelon cubes in a blender just until it looks like a chunky sauce, about 10 to 12 short pulses. Transfer pulp to a colander lined with cheesecloth set over a large pot, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has dripped through....

(2017) Summer Bread Salad

Craig Richards of St. Cecilia demoed this recipe at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. Love the combination of melon, cucumber and peppers.

Field Pea or Watermelon Salsa

No, that’s not a typo. This week we’ve got a salsa recipe that works with either your watermelon or your field peas. If you’re like me and want to eat your field peas just as field peas this week, then hold onto this recipe if you get to the point you want to do something different with those pretty peas.

Tomato-Watermelon Salad

Have we talked about combining tomato and watermelon in a salad before? Fabulous. Add some feta or goat cheese or little mozzarella balls if you like. Basil? Yum.

Watermelon Soda Float

This recipe is from Austin, Texas pastry chef Jessica Maher. Perfect way to beat the summer heat. Doctor up a little store bought frozen yogurt, make the easy soda (a lot like the preceding soup recipe) and you’ve got a perfect summer dessert.

Pickled Watermelon Rind

I’ve been wanting to make pickled watermelon rind and am delighted to have an organic melon for just that purpose. Can I convince you to give pickling a try?

Martha McMillin of The Preserving Place suggests wrapping pickled watermelon rind in prosciutto for a great Southern twist on the traditional melon-prosciutto combination. Yum.

Melon Martini

This martini recipe came from the folks at East Atlanta Village Farmers Market. It’s from food blog Glue & Glitter. The original recipe called for watermelon, but it would work with any melon that came in your box. I got watermelon, I know there were other varieties as well.

Watermelon Rind Relish

The next time we have a watermelon I’ll give you a recipe for making watermelon rind pickles, but love this idea from Fine Cooking magazine for a watermelon rind relish. No canning required! The recipe calls for 1/2 of a jalapeno, but of course you can vary that by the tolerance for heat in your household. Although I have to say, every jalapeno I’ve cooked with this year has been pretty spicy! This should keep pretty well in your refrigerator – maybe for a month? 1 (4-pound). watermelon

Watermelon and Tomato Salad

I will probably just eat my waternelon in big chunks, but if you want to do something different, this lovely salad idea from Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is a nice combination of sweet, spicy and sour.

Watermelon-Basil Margaritas

Not sure why, but this week’s box has set me to thinking about sweets. Maybe not the traditional reaction to the bounty of squash, cucumbers and greens, but there you are. What may have pushed me to the sweet side was the huge bunch of basil in my box. “Hmm … more pesto? Nah. Chop some into a salad with the beans and potatoes? Ok. But there’s LOTS of basil …”

And then I remembered a drink I discovered last summer, the watermelon-basil margarita. The recipe came out in Martha Stewart Living back in 2007, and like lots of people, I had torn it out and added it to that stack of “recipes I will get to one day”. Well, “one day” came last summer and what a hit! People who were totally not going to try it ended up loving it and we were muddling basil leaves all night long. Here’s the recipe.

Watermelon Gazpacho

I’ve been experimenting with cold soups this week, and I’m really enjoying these two options which use a number of items from this week’s box.

I‘ve been a huge fan of gazpacho since my first taste at the Peasant Uptown at Phipps Plaza (which means I’m really dating myself since they’ve been closed for years). Spicy, flavorful tomato gazpacho, topped with shrimp … and served with their cheese toast …. it opened my eyes to the pleasures of cold soup. Now most summers I keep a half gallon jar of gazpacho in the refrigerator as soon as the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers come in.

Recently I’ve been seeing recipes for watermelon gazpacho, and this week I finally tried it out. Delicious! Here’s one way to make it, but I’ve seen it demonstrated by chefs at local farmers’ markets using many variations including adding tomatoes, using more hot peppers, or varying herbs like using dill. I liked this recipe because it used what I have in my garden and box right now. You could leave out the crab, or substitute shrimp. The sweet seafood is a nice foil for the spicy fruitiness of the soup.