Watermelon Recipe Roundup: Spicy Paletas, Watermelon Rind Pickles and More
Arizona Watermelons
The combination of sunshine, heat and mineral rich soil make Arizona watermelons the sweetest, tastiest melons available anywhere. While it seems like many of the acres of watermelon fields have been cleared for housing developments, farmers have become more creative with their land during the summer months. According to the Arizona Farm Bureau, there are significantly much more watermelons grown in Arizona now than in 1992. Learn more here.
Watermelons, muskmelon, cantaloupe, honeydew are excellent additions to your #VictoryGarden. As well as being really fun to grow, the bees love the blossoms, which help the whole garden grow harmoniously.
If you planted seeds a few months ago and are wondering when it is time to harvest those beauties — look for the tendril closest to the watermelon to brown and shrivel up and the bottom of the watermelon to turn a creamy yellowish ivory color or the watermelon just might decide it is done and go ahead and split.
One Master Gardener explained that at harvest time, farmers let the vines die so that all of the plant’s nutrients get pushed to the fruit making it sweeter. Nothing like struggle to bring out the best in all of us melon-heads.
Should you chose to forego the victory garden, watermelons are in abundance at Farmers Markets. The Santa Cruz Drive Up Farmers Market in Tucson, has watermelons for $5. Crooked Sky Farms has watermelon and cantaloupe at Roadrunner Park market in Phoenix and Lake Havasu’s bi-monthly market. Choosing a watermelon at the Farmers Market is a cinch as they are harvested when ripe with no need to worry about picking an unripe or bruised melon.
Ice cube tray watermelon paletas
Recipe: Spicy Watermelon Paletas
½ watermelon or 4 to 6 cups of cut watermelon without the rind
1 teaspoon or so of Arizona honey
Juice of 2 limes
2 dried chiltepin peppers (optional)
Add watermelon, chili peppers and lime juice to a blender and blend at medium speed until the watermelon is completely juiced. Taste for sweetness, add honey if needed and blend again. Pour juice into ice cube trays or Popsicle molds and pop into your freezer for 4 hours and enjoy! We filled 6 Popsicle molds and one ice cube tray and had enough watermelon juice left over for margaritas.
If making paletas is not in your bailiwick, but enjoying them are, 1912 Brewing Co. took a different approach to the paletas with their beer: Sandia Loca Sour. You can find this refreshing summer beverage at 1912 Brewing Co. or check out their website for locations throughout Arizona to find this beer.
What about the scraps??
Recipe: Watermelon Rind Pickles
Watermelon rind pickles are great addition to salads, part of an antipasto platter, tasty on fish tacos, and really yummy on burgers.
4 to 5 pound watermelon
1.5 cups of apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups of filtered water
½ - 1cup of organic sugar
2 tablespoons of sea salt
One jalapeno pepper (optional) cut into slices
Stem and leaves of Thai basil
Knob of ginger
3 dried allspice berries per jar
Clean jars with lids
Cut the watermelon into long wedges and cut the yummy pink/red flesh out to eat and enjoy or turn into watermelon paletas. Leave 1/2” to 1/4” red flesh on the rind. With a peeler remove the outer green skin. Cut the white and pink rind into small cubes and cut the jalapeno into slices. Divide the fruits and ginger between the jars. Bring the water and vinegar to a low boil, add sugar (more if you would like these sweet and less if you want them savory) and salt until they dissolve. Turn the heat off and let the sauce pan sit for about 5 minutes. Pour over the fruit in the jars, put on lids and let sit on the counter until at room temperature; about 2 episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations.” Pickles are ready to be eaten and store any remaining pickles in the refrigerator.
Hate pickles?!…Compost the rinds
Sometimes you just have to throw it away, but instead of trash, think composting. Check out our friends at Recycled City and their home pick up and delivery of your compost buckets. The service is priced to please and you can fill their buckets with watermelon rinds, cantaloup seeds, that half eaten burger that you couldn’t finish or the pizza box from the pizza you ordered the night before. Fill out a quick form, pay per month or every couple of months and empty buckets will magically appear on your front doorstep and filled buckets will disappear.
Feel really good about yourself while taking out the trash.
Shrubwell
We totally dig Courtney and Chris from Shrubwell; they are super creative and have developed a perfect Shrub using fresh, local organic produce. The Shrubwell Instagram stories show the behind the scenes of this magical mixer including how they use over 100 pounds of watermelon to make one batch of the Shrubewell Watermelon + Fennel + Lime Shrub. This flavor combination has been compared to watermelon Jolly Rancher candy.
Shrubwell’s Watermelon Fennel Lime Shrub
What’s a shrub - “A fruit and botanical based syrup preserved with aged vinegars for a multidimensional flavor that's tart, fruity, herbal and lightly sweet.”
Courtney told us, ”Our Watermelon + Fennel + Lime Shrub is such a crowd pleaser, from drinkers to non-drinkers alike; kids are even big fans of this tart summer shrub! With smooth, tropical and tangy flavors, you can simply mix it into seltzer for a refreshing soda, add it to your favorite liquor for an easy cocktail, freeze it with lemonade for poolside popsicles, or even shake up a vinaigrette for a tasty salad!”
Recipe: The Shrubwell Vinaigrette
2 tbs shrub
4-5 tbs oil
salt & pepper
Whisk or shake ingredients until emulsified, toss with your favorite greens or use as a quick marinade for chicken or veggies before grilling
*optional additional ingredients: dijon mustard, lemon juice, shallots, garlic
Order Shrubwell Shrubs online or find them at your neighborhood bodega.