Early watermelons are starting to appear at the markets, and I was excited to get my hands on one of my favorite fruits this past week. I wanted to serve it as a light, refreshing dessert at a mid-week meal. But when I cracked it open, I found it disappointingly pale in color and flavor. What to do? Well, there are a few things you can do to jazz up a weak watermelon and make it vibrant enough to stand on its own as dessert for any meal.
I took a tip from the practice of salting watermelon, which concentrates the juice and makes the sweetness more pronounced. Sugar has a similar effect, so I put out a couple tablespoons of sugar, along with the zest of a lemon and a couple handfuls of fresh mint leaves.
I cut up about half of a small watermelon in thick slices, and layered the watermelon slices on a plate. As I layered the wedges, I very lightly sprinkled the slices with sugar. Then I rubbed some zest over the layer and sprinkled with chiffonaded mint. I did this to each layer of the watermelon slices, finishing off the dish with a full sprig of mint.
Then I covered the plate with plastic wrap and (this is important!) refrigerated it until dinner — about an hour and a half.
The result? Ice cold watermelon that had soaked up the bit of sugar and all that mint for a refreshing blend of flavors right there in the fruit. It tasted slightly tangy from the lemon, so sweet from the mint. It was an improvement, if I may say so, over the original flavor of the melon.
This got me thinking, too; watermelon is such a great sponge for flavor (and alcohol, as some of us may know!). It would be a shame to mess with a truly ripe and full-bodied melon, but these weaker, paler melons of early summer or of over-watered gardens might be redeemed with some interesting flavor infusions. Syrups, herbs, and herbed sugar could all be very fun to play around with!
Other than eating straight, what's your favorite recipes for watermelon?
Related: Summer Eating: How Do You Slice a Whole Watermelon?
(Image: Faith Durand)
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Bacsac Bacsquare 04...
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Sandia con limon y chile.... Watermelon with fresh squeezed lime juice and sprinkled with red chile powder.
Drizzle watermelon chunks with a good balsamic vinegar and a touch of lime juice. Heavenly!
Or, if you've got some time (and/or a lesser quality vinegar), mix equal parts balsamic and simple syrup, and reduce the whole mixture by at least 1/2 and up to 1/4. Balsamic syrup ahoy! So, so, so good, and goes with every kind of melon or berry!
http://www.abreadaday.com
our go-to watermelon dressing is lime juice, honey and chiffonade-ed mint mixed in a pleasing proportion. (read: no recipe measurements).
Or, the feta/basil/balsamic/watermelon combo is also good!
Throw your ingredients into the blender, with or without alcohol and other fruit. Drinkable watermelon puree somehow makes me less picky about the flavor vs. eating watermelon straight.
An Indian grad student I used to work with once brought to a potluck watermelon seasoned with his grandmother's "sandwich spices." Sadly, he didn't know what was in the spice blend. It was delicious, though. I may try Penzey's garam masala on a watermelon this summer, just to see. It's good on everything.
don't you cut a small hole in it and dump a bottle of vodka in the watermelon? do you have to put it in the freezer? jamie oliver has a recipe ... i must look it up in my library!
Joan, it's a lot easier to peel the watermelon (hack off the top and bottom then remove the rest of the rind by cutting downward in strips so that no white remains). Cut the remaining heart of the watermelon into large bite sized pieces and marinade them in a glass or ceramic bowl with a bottle of vodka, some mint, lime juice, and sugar in your refridgerator. A mixing bowl fits in the fridge much easier than a big water melon, and (assuming you use good vodka) it's much cheaper to waste a little watermelon using the method above than the Jaime Oliver way, which ends up wasting vodka. Serve in wide mouthed old fashioned glasses or small bowls.
Put it in a blender and mix (for a reasonably sized watermelons, not the 16-pound monsters my grandad grows) with 1.5 cups lemon juice and 1.5 cups orange juice. Sugar to taste, lots of ice and, for me, some coconut rum.
Sooo good!
Try sprinkling some rosewater over cold, sliced watermelon. It is heaven on a hot day.
wow, thanks, this got such a fab reaction from friends! delish!