musings, mutterings, and creative muddle. . .





Monday, June 6, 2011

What? Watermelon Salsa????

I picked up my first juicy watermelon of the summer last week at the store.  As sweet and delicious as it was on its own, I wanted to create something special, unusual, and totally delectable.





I wanted a unique recipe beyond the typical fruit bowl with grapes and canteloupe, or straight off the rind, or even the infamous injected with vodka concept.  I wanted something different, tasty, and delicious.  How about this?



Watermelon Salsa

1 can corn kernels - rinsed and drained
1 can black beans - rinsed and drained
1/2 c. red or purple onion - chopped
1 jalepeno pepper - seeded and chopped (can substitute any kind of sweet pepper for less heat)
1 clove garlic - minced (may substitute 1/2 tsp of garlic powder)
1/4 c. fresh cilantro - chopped (dried cilantro may be substituted)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mild chili powder (optional - or add red pepper flakes for more flavor)
juice from 1 lime (or more if preferred; RealLime can be used, but only use 2-3 Tbsp)
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups watermelon - chopped (and seeds removed)


Chop. . .


Dice. . .


Squeeze. . .



Mix. . .


Gently fold in watermelon chunks. . .



And serve!



We actually ended up going from our usual Three Judges (thanks Hubster for not only taking the pics for this blog, but for making the rest of the meal!), to a total of eight!  The verdict?  One gave the recipe a 'waste of good watermelon' vote (he couldn't get past the idea of watermelon as salsa), and the other seven liked it (that included three teenagers!). . .  The watermelon gave a nice crunch and really blended well with the other ingredients - surprisingly.  Though, with my lead, the consensus agreed I need to do a little tweaking.

We had no jalepenos, so I used a sweet pepper, I know we'd prefer the jalepeno.  The chili powder can be left out, juice from another lime would be a good thing and a bit more salt would be nice - I've already included these changes and suggestions in the recipe.  Give it a shot - I think you'll really like it:-)  Oh, if you make the watermelon cubes smaller, you can use this as a dip with corn chips too - yum yum!

I still have a lot of this juicy melon left in the refrigerator - all cubed and ready for my next recipe. . . honey on watermelon?  That's what I'm thinking. . . . . I'll keep you posted.

Have a Juicy kind of day ~

Robin Z

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