I am newly obsessed with watermelon. I’ve been eating it lately as though I’ve never tried it before and it’s some new exotic food. Not that I didn’t like it before, but if given the option of other fruit I’d gladly take other fruit. I’ll eat melon, but it isn’t typically one of those “I can’t wait to eat more of THAT” foods. Until now. Either this summer’s watermelon crop has been super juicy and flavorful or my tastebuds finally just caught on to how refreshing (and re-hydrating) watermelon is.
As I mentioned in my last post, watermelon is 97% water. When ripe, it is the juiciest, meatiest, tastiest (in my opinion), of all the melons. Again, I’m not a huge melon fan so call me biased, but I think watermelon = best idea ever when the temps keep climbing. One watermelon can go a long way, so to make up for not posting in all of June I’ve included three, yes THREE!, no-cook recipes for you below that all utilize watermelon. One of ’em even has booze in it to boot. One watermelon is enough to make all three of these on different nights throughout the week…or have one watermelon-y themed dinner. Eat up, drink up, and cheers!
Watermelon Mint Salad:
–Watermelon, rind removed and cubed
–Mint leaves, cut into ribbons
–Lime juice
Add the watermelon and mint to a bowl. Splash with lime juice. Stir to combine. EAT. We’ve been eating this pretty much every meal made at home recently.
Watermelon Tea Sandwiches
–Watermelon, cut into 1/2″ thick slices (these are your bread)
–4 oz. goat cheese, cut into slices
–baby spinach
–1/2 lemon
–fresh cracked black pepper
Since the watermelon is your bread, separate the tops from the bottoms to avoid confusion. Starting with the bottoms, add goat cheese and baby spinach to each sandwich. Squeeze the lemon juice over the sandwiches and then sprinkle the black pepper across the sandwiches. Top with the remaining watermelon. Serves four.
Note: You don’t actually have to drink tea when you eat these. How about a nice rosé instead?
Watermelon Basil Margarita
–Watermelon, cubed and most seeds removed
–Basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces or cut into ribbons
–3 oz. tequila
–3 oz. cold water
–1/2 lemon
In a pitcher or muddling glass, use a muddler or the back of a spoon to crush the watermelon into a pureé and muddle the basil leaves. Add the tequila and the cold water. Juice the lemon into the mixture as well. Shake to combine. Serve. Garnish with more fresh basil if you want to look fancy. You are fancy, at least in my eyes.
