Community Corner
Wonderful Ways with Watermelon
Try these quick and fun desserts that maintain the healthy, vitamin-rich characteristics of the fruit.
Summer has arrived and it is hot. Pools are crowding with children just out of school for vacation, festivals are up and running, and farmers markets are bustling with fresh produce coming and going. To compliment the sudden flurry of seasonal activities, tastes and cravings shift and eating healthy becomes super simple, as fruits and vegetables are plentiful and welcoming.
Oftentimes, the foods we bring home from the farmer’s markets are delicious, just as nature created them. To do the foods justice, and to showcase vibrant colors and tantalizing tastes, fun, effortless presentations are often all that is needed. For example, watermelon does not need much prepping to evoke smiles. Even so, there are ways to display the vine growing vegetable, relative to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash,while keeping its antioxidant-rich impact.
These simple ideas are bound draw crowds and please palates. What ways do you like serving watermelon? What are your favorite recipes?
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Mixed Watermelon Salad
Equal amount of red and yellow seedless watermelon, cut in bite-sized chunks
2-3 Tbsp. orange blossom honey
1-2 Tbsp fresh mint leaf chiffonade, or thinly sliced
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Toss all the ingredients together and serve.
Watermelon Petit Fours
from the Watermelon Promotion Board
12 3-inch cubes of seedless watermelon
1 cup pineapple cream cheese frosting (see below)
12 toasted or candied nuts, like almonds or pistachios
Arrange the watermelon cubes on a serving platter. Place the frosting in a piping bag, or Ziploc bag with a trimmed-off bottom corner. Decoratively pipe the frosting onto each watermelon cube. Place a nut at the top of the frosting on each petit four.
Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple
8 ounces low fat cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the pineapple on several layers of clean paper towel and top with some more paper towel. Press to remove as much juice as possible. Beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Mix in the pineapple. Keep refrigerated. Makes about 1 ½ cups.
