Food For Thought

This week I have been seeing red.  Red watermelon, that is!

Such succulent, run-down-your-chin, sweet refresheny goodness!  We have had watermelon on the grocery list for the past several weeks and those tasty little globular melons have not let us down one bit in the "boo-yeah!" department.  In fact, it's entirely possible that Lydia has been surviving on watermelon alone ... who wants to eat fajitas or mac-n-cheese when watermelon's on the table?!?

As much as I love to savor a hunk of red, juicy melon right off the rind, it is fun to have a few different ways to enjoy this delectable delight.  Here are two such splendid recipes ... enjoy!

Watermelon & Berry Salad

(This recipe is from Food Network, July/August, 2011 ... only a few adjustments.)

Ingredients:

1 small watermelon, cubed or balled

2 cups blueberries

3 mint sprigs

1 lemon, zested* and juiced

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

*Don't worry if you don't have a zester.  I used my cheese grater to zest the lemon.  The course grate was great (pun intended!) for giving me small shavings of lemon zest.

In a small sauce pan, bring the water and sugar to a simmer.  Remove from heat and add the mint sprigs. Let steep for about 10 minutes.  Discard the mint and add the lemon zest and the lemon juice.  Mix well and then add a pinch of salt.  In a large bowl, combine the blueberries and watermelon.  Pour the glaze over the fruit and toss well.  Let the salad sit for about 15 minutes in order to allow the flavors to mingle. Garnish with chopped mint.

Just try to have left-overs ... I dare you.

Watermelon Slushies
(The girls wanted slushies ... this is what they got ... they liked it ... ta-dah!)

Ingredients:
4 cups frozen watermelon*
1 cup ice water
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup sugar

*We recently ended up with an extra watermelon in the house ... that's a lot of watermelon, even for these kids!  One watermelon we ate, the other we froze.  Here's how:

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.  Use a melon-baller to scoop out the watermelon.  Line the cookie sheet in a single layer with the melon balls and then pop it in the freezer.  When the melon is frozen hard, break it up and store it in a ziplock freezer bag until ready to use.

To make the slushies, measure 4 cups frozen watermelon balls into the blender.  Add the water, juice and sugar.  Blend on high.  I had to drizzle a bit more ice water into the blender to ensure a smooth consistency.  You could almost use a straw ... but it was much more fun to use a spoon.  Makes 2 large slushies.

Perfectly refreshing for a hot summer day ...
Just the thing to cool you off.

Uh oh ...

Warning:  Might make you too refreshed, too cool ...
and too silly!