Use any seasoning mix you have in your pantry. This is just a reminder that poultry and melon are a really nice salad combination. If you still have some blueberries, throw them in. Store-bought or your favorite homemade dressing and you’re done. I wouldn’t add tomato, but a cucumber would be nice. And something for a little crunch.
This recipe is from Austin, Texas pastry chef Jessica Maher. Perfect way to beat the summer heat. Doctor up a little store bought frozen yogurt, make the easy soda (a lot like the preceding soup recipe) and you’ve got a perfect summer dessert.
I’m on a melon mission this week. We’ve been making cantaloupe granita from a great recipe from Walker Brown of Inman’s Park’s Wisteria Restaurant. Can’t share that recipe yet, it publishes in the AJC on August 11, but here’s a similar recipe for a melon soup that you could turn into a granita just by adding a little simple syrup and then freezing it. If you need some other melon ideas, check out http://grassfedcow.com/ingredient/watermelon/. The recipes there are generally for watermelon, but you could use the cantaloupe in most.
This recipe is fabulous. No idea where I first found it. Use it as a cold soup as it was first intended, add a little seltzer or club soda and make a spritzer, add a little gin and make a cocktail, add a little simple syrup and freeze it for a granita. It couldn’t be simpler and it couldn’t be more delicious.
This recipe comes from Justin Burditt of Miller Union. For simple syrup, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup granulated sugar and heat just until sugar dissolves. You’ll want an ice cream maker for this, or you can freeze the mixture in a freezer-proof container and stir it every half hour or so to break up the ice crystals and make a sort of granita. Since figs are widely available from your own tree or at a farmers market, this is a perfect August dessert.
Riverview CSA subscriber Andrea B. sent me this recipe and a note the last time we had a melon in our box:
I thought I’d share a recipe back. It’s from Publix. It’s not fancy, in fact at first it sounds quite odd, but it is delicious and a great way to use the cantaloupe we’d been getting. I hope there will be more later in the summer so I can make it again! It’s great with Riverview farms sausage (I used cheddarwurst the last time) …. and Charlotte tells me that the pigs love cantaloupe, so I guess they are meant to go together!
I’ve seen lots of variations on the classic tomato caprese salad as people are mixing all kinds of fruit with wonderful fresh mozzarella. Here’s an adaption of one from Southern Living. The original recipe called for a mix of peaches , melons, strawberries and grapes. That was a little too much variety for my taste, but if you have any late summer peaches on hand, they’d be a delicious addition.
A quick note about the melons, if it isn’t too late – don’t throw away the seeds. Grinding them up in drinks like liquados is a traditional Mexican technique. The seeds become a thickener. This recipe was adapted from one published in Gourmet in 2008.
