6 Quick and Easy Melon Recipes for Labor Day

This week on Good Food, Laura Avery interviews Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, about melons. Amelia shares several delicious, quick and easy melon recipes for this Labor Day Weekend.

Amelia recommends using the same method for supreming an orange for cutting up melon. Keep reading for 6 quick recipes and instructions on her unique way of skinning a melon.

6 Refreshing things to do with melons on Labor Day Weekend and how to cut them

1. The obvious: melon and prosciutto. For good sweet/salt contrast, use a sweet, firm

orange-fleshed melon such as Honeyloupe from Munak Ranch or Sugar Cube from

Weiser Family Farms.

2. Cut small Cavaillon cantaloupes in half, scoop out seeds, and poke holes in the flesh.

Pour 2 to 4 tablespoons of Port or a sweet dessert wine such as Beaumes de Venise (a still

muscat wine). Let stand 1 hour. Serve with a simple, elegant cookie for dessert.

3. Mince the flesh of a very sweet, juicy melon (Sweet Ambrosia from Rocky Canyon or

Baby Canary from Weiser) making sure to capture all the juices. A food mill works well

for this task, but don’t use a blender or food processor (texture isn’t as nice). Put into a

bowl with a squeeze of lemon and a little Moscato d’Asti (a light sparkling dessert wine).

Chill for an hour or more. Stir in additional Moscato to taste just before serving for

dessert or a refreshing poolside shooter. Garnish with mint if you want to get fancy.

4. Make a salad of cubes of firm orange-fleshed melons (Honeyloupe or Sugar Cube),

seeded and sliced Persian cucumbers (lemon cukes are also wonderful here, but don’t

seed), slivered white onion, squeeze of lemon, black pepper, feta cheese, and basil or

mint.

5. Alternate slices of watermelon, pineapple tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with

balsamic vinegar, black pepper, fleur de sel.

6. Melon agua fresca: use juicy soft-fleshed melons such as white-fleshed piel de sapo

(“frog skin”) inodorous melons or green-fleshed Galias from Weiser. Cut into chunks and

put into blender with lime juice and ice. Add mint if you like. If you like the drink less

sweet, add a seeded cucumber to the blender.

7. Great way to skin a melon: cut a slice off the top and bottom so melon can stand. Use a

knife to cut off the peel, following the curve of the melon as you go. Work your way

around the melon, turn it upside down, and cut away any bits of peel you might have

missed. Cut melon in half, scoop out seeds, and cut melon halves into crescents or cubes.

© Amelia Saltsman, 2011.