thoughtful consumption

1. Watermelon salad

The combination of watermelon, sweet onion, feta cheese, mint, and vinaigrette makes a perfect summer side dish.

I’ve also read you can sub in other melons like cantaloupe and honeydew for the watermelon, but I haven’t tried that yet. I will say that this salad is best eaten the same day. If you have more melon than you can eat in a meal, just keep the ingredients separate and mix them before the next serving.

2. Grilled watermelon

I haven’t tried this, but lots of people love it. Here’s one of them.

3. An excuse to make pancakes, French toast, or other brunchy favorite

Everyone knows you need a special reason to make pancakes or French toast for breakfast. “We can serve it with a slice of that melon over there” makes an excellent one.

4. Slushy drinks

Throw chopped melon in a blender with some ice and some simple syrup or fruit juice. If you like, add zero to four ounces of rum or vodka. Also consider a squirt of lemon or lime juice.

For the treat above, we used a sprite melon.

Because sprite melons are so sweet, we didn’t use any extra sugar and loved it. It was fruity and icy but not sticky sweet.

5. Granita

Granitas are sort of similar to slushies. You freeze 2 cups of pureed fruit or liquid or a combination plus some simple syrup.

Here’s a breakdown of the process:

1. Make simple syrup. Heat a mixture of sugar and water in a 1:2 ratio until the sugar dissolves. You could add some lemon or minty herbs to this syrup for an even tastier treat. Even better than white sugar is creamed honey.

2. Chop and puree an ambrosia melon (or any other handy melon).

3. Add the syrup, tasting as you go to get the right amount of sweetness.

4. Pour mixture  in a shallow ceramic or glass dish.

5. Open the freezer and let the dish slip out of your hands and spill on the floor and all over you. (Optional)

Granitalanche!

6. Weep piteously as husband comes to see what’s wrong and clean up the mess. (Results may vary)

7. Recover surviving granita and carefully place in freezer for two hours.

8. Every 30 minutes, stir the granita to break up the ice crystals. That’s what will give it a nice texture.

9. Enjoy!