Mid-summer melons are here in the Midwest! Watermelons and honeydews and cantaloupes have just begun arriving, along with a nice variety of speciality melons, like Sprites and Charentais (the best tasting melon, ever). I especially love all the pastel colors going on — pinks and yellows and greens and oranges. You can’t help but make something beautiful with summer fruit!
Served ice cold, melons are cooling on those unbearably hot and humid days that mark July and August. Today I have three melon no-recipe recipes for enjoying these amazings fruits.
Truth be told, I like melons scooped right out of their rinds, or sliced into perky triangles as a side for a picnic lunch, but this summer I’m upping my melon game to include them in more ways. Here we go!
Rainbow Melons Ice Cubes
Ice cold fruit and herb infused water has been a staple all summer long (last year, too!). Lime and fresh-from-the-garden mint, or orange and vanilla beans (orange creamsicles in a glass!) are the standing favorites, but when I’m really craving something sweet and fizzy, I reach for summer melons. Since melons are mostly water, they freeze like a dream, and serve the dual purpose of chilling the drink and flavoring it all in one step. (Plus, crunchy melon ice cubes are the bomb when you catch one up.) Try frozen melon balls in sparkling water or light ginger ale (Fever-Tree is a favorite brand) with a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Rainbow Melons Ice Cubes
Ingredients
- 1 each melon in different colors try red watermelon, cantalope, honeydew, and yellow watermelon
- ice water or chilled club soda sparkling water, or ginger ale
- Lemon wedges
- Mint sprigs for garnish optional
Instructions
- Use a melon scoop or small cookie dough scoop to scoop out balls from each melon. Place melon balls on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in freezer until frozen. Use immediately or transfer to a freezer-safe container. As the melons warm in your water, they’ll infuse the drink with a light, sweet flavor. Fabulous in sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon and a sprig of mint.
Rainbow Melons Salad
Summer fruits are so fresh and cooling that it’s the one time of year when I actually crave fruit salads (as opposed to just green salads). This particular melon salad has been a favorite for years, thanks to the nice little tang of the orange-lime-mint vinaigrette. Plus, it’s just sooo pretty in the bowl.
Rainbow Melons Salad
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 each melon in different colors try red watermelon, cantalope, honeydew, and yellow watermelon
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Use a melon scoop or small cookie dough scoop to scoop out balls from each melon. Arrange in a bowl. Whisk the remaining ingredients together and drizzle over the melon balls. Refrigerate until very cold before serving.
Rainbow Melons Dessert Stacks
Watermelon cakes are all the rage this summer on the food blogs (this one is so pretty!). As a fruit-is-not-dessert kind of girl (chocolate!), I was skeptical about the whole melon/whipped cream combination. But then I tried it on a whim one day with some leftover scraps, and … I was won over. There’s something about the combination of light airy sweetness and light watery sweetness that really works. It’s one of the few desserts — along with key lime pie — that I consider to be summer style refreshing.
Rainbow Melons Dessert Stacks
Ingredients
- 1 each melons in different colors try red watermelon, cantalope, honeydew, and yellow watermelon
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 4 teaspoons cold water
- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- Before beginning, place your whipping bowl and whisk blades in the freezer so they’re very cold when starting the whipped cream.
- Slice the melons into equally sized shapes (squares, rectangles, or circles). Keep them under 4″ wide, so the stacks will be stable. Place the melon slices in the refrigerator while you make the whipped cream.
- In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool, but don’t allow it to set – it should still be a liquid.
- Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar, until it begins to thicken, with the beaters leaving tracks in the cream.
- Add the gelatin to the whipping cream in a steady stream and whip at high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Remove the melons from the fridge and thoroughly pat all sides dry with paper towels. (They have be as dry as possible, otherwise the whipped cream will slide around and the stacks will topple.)
- Use an offset spatula to spread a light layer of whipped cream on the bottom melon slice, and gently place the second slice on top. Spread another layer of whipped cream, and place the third layer on top. (Repeat for fourth layer if using four colors). Top with a swirl of whipped cream.
- Repeat for remaining rainbow melons dessert stacks. Serve immediately.
Hope you enjoy the awesome sweet melon season!
Karen xo
Rocky Mountain Woman
Thursday 31st of July 2014
What a pretty post! love the photos...
I think I'm going to make the top recipe with just a little touch of gin!
Seems like everything this summer seems to need a little gin...