Watermelon Agua Fresca

A dinner out at Cascabel Taqueria (review to come) in New York City inspired us to try making some watermelon agua fresca at home and now Jen is hooked (it's become a thrice weekly ritual).  It's so easy to make, I can't believe we've never thought of it.  It works with almost any good summer fruit - oranges, limes, grapefuit, berries.

Recipe Card (PDF)Start with a good seedless watermelon (chilled if possible) and cut it into chunks. For about 6 cups of agua fresca, we used about 1/8th of a medium melon. Drop the chunks into a blender (use a good one that can crush ice for the best result) along with 6-10 ice cubes and 1/4 cup of agave (or other sweetener).

Blend on a high crushing speed until near smooth - about 2 minutes - then add an equal amount of chilled seltzer water.  Serve in tall glasses with 2 more ice cubes and a spear of watermelon. A good garnish is a sprig of mint or a cool straw (these were Jonathan Adler designed for Pepsi)...now sit back and enjoy!

Watermelon Feta Salad

I've seen some really good variations of this but either way, this salad is always good for parties and summertime get-togethers.

Recipe Card (PDF)Cut a ripe, seedless watermelon into bite size chunks (don't go too small).  Add chopped tomato (as always, I prefer to use ripe grape tomatos - easier to control the size and texture) and crumbled feta to taste.  Along with that, add some kind of fresh leaf herb chopped up - mint or parsley or cilantro or basil are good contenders.

For dressing, use a sweetened vinaigrette - 2 parts oil, 1 part vinegar, plus sweetener (honey works best for this one, but agave is also good) and sea salt to taste. Toss only lightly.

Some people like to serve that on top of a bed of lettuce but I prefer the big bowl of scooped juicy melon.