Watermelon Frenzy

Who has time to read when there are fresh mini-watermelons available at the produce stand down the street? Actually, I usually don't even like watermelons, but I fell in love with these baby tiny cuties, and at 2 for 5 bucks I couldn't resist. Then, I tasted them... and wow. They are just luscious and red and juicy and flavorful. I can't get enough! In addition to just snacking on pieces, I am trying to forge into the unknown land of watermelon recipes as well.

First up was the vodka soaked watermelon. Think snack sized fruit martinis! I found a few different methods of infusing the vodka online, but I didn't have much time so I just cut the melon in half, cut the fruit into several pieces and scooped them out into a separate bowl. I dumped out any "water" left in the rind, and then put the pieces all back in and poured about 1/3 cup of vodka over each half. Then I popped it in the fridge and let it sit about 3-4 hours. The result was surprising... I wasn't sure if I should expect watermelon flavored vodka or vodka flavored watermelon. I got the latter. It tasted much stronger than I think it really was. Each juicy piece seemed like a shot of straight vodka (that you had to chew) but I don't think there was really that much alcohol in there. Who knows.

The second dish I tried was quite risky. I am talking above and beyond the risk of cooking with watermelon at all. I found several recipes online that varied just slightly, so instead of picking one to follow, I just very loosely followed all of them. If you know me at all, you know that I will read cook books all day long and yet never ever follow a recipe while cooking. I more just read about dishes and then make the proportions up as I go along or include/exclude ingredients as I please. But I digress-- the dish was a watermelon, feta, and mint salad.

Did you throw up in your mouth a little? That was my instant reaction, but people literally raved about this online, and I had feta and mint (from my besty's garden no less) on hand and thought, "what the hell". The salad did not disappoint. It was one of the tastiest, freshest, most uniquely delicious things I have had in a long time. And I don't even know how to describe what it tastes like other than watermelon, feta, and mint all having a party in your mouth. The flavors don't exactly blend, but they each offer something incredible. I don't know who thought these three things would go together, but man oh man they do. This dish is a total keeper.

My "recipe" is as follows:
I took 1 mini seedless watermelon (about 1/3-1/2 a regular watermelon) and chopped it up into bite sized pieces. Then I sprinkled feta cheese all over the top, followed by ribbon sliced mint leaves. Then I tossed all three ingredients together and added just a bit more feta and mint on top for garnish. Then, I made the dressing. Online, recipes varied from using no dressing, to using just lime juice, to using olive oil and just about every type of vinegar. I opted for white wine vinegar, olive oil, and black pepper (about 2 TBSPN, 1 TBSPN, and two shakes) and then just drizzled it all over the salad. I did not re-toss the salad because the watermelon just soaks the dressing up and then passes it down to the next layer.

Consider me watermelon crazed!