Friday, September 30, 2011

Watermelon Drink and Watermelon Salad for a Big ... - Local Food Bee

Pledge to join the Eat Local Challenge
and receive 10% off at
Cali?s Natural Foods, Sage?s Cafe, and
Vertical Diner
for the duration of the one-month Challenge.

The month-long 2011 Eat Local Challenge is already more than half over. While the work required in the kitchen to keep up a 100% local diet is getting tiring, I also feel like I start hitting my stride at about week 3. Everything takes practice, right? In this case it?s a matter of making a habit of thinking and planning ahead

Nonetheless, I am still relying heavily on left-overs which doesn?t make for very interesting meals. Don?t get me wrong, we?re still eating delicious food, and I?m a firm believer in left-overs. It?s just that the same leftovers for the fourth time does start getting old.

I have to laugh because I hope to inspire people with this blog, but I do also want to serve as a resource.? Sometimes?like when I?m at my absolute busiest?I step back and say thank goodness for a modern food system to go with our modern lives. That said, I am still eating delicious, healthy food and making a positive difference. And I must be a very fortunate person to be able to even say that I wish I were eating less leftovers.

First, I had this great big watermelon courtesy of Thayne Tagge and Julie with Salt Lake County Urban Farming. This watermelon is a TV star and later came in to my possession.

I have done two interesting things with it so far:

Watermelon Cooler

This was inspired by the Watermelon Cooler listed on The Copper Onion?s brunch menu. (The Copper Onion strives to source locally and they have great food!) Their drink includes watermelon, cucumber, mint, and vodka. Lucky me! I had all of those ingredients hailing from local sources at home.

I chopped up one medium-sized cucumber, as much watermelon as would fit into my blender, and then added about 2 tablespoons fresh mint. Once I blended, more room opened up, so I added more watermelon and blended again. I left it non-alcoholic for those who preferred and added a little vodka for those who enjoy the spiked version. Both were delicious.

I do suggest either adding ice into the blender or giving the watermelon a good chill in the fridge beforehand to make this drink even more refreshing. It?s probably best really cold.

Watermelon Salad

Watermelon is sometimes just a bit sweet for me, so I really like this recipe. I once tried something similar to this dish at a potluck dinner, so I worked from what I could remember and what I could find locally.

4 cups Watermelon cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small Red Onion, finely chopped
2/3 cup Arugula, finely chopped
1 tbsp. Honey Wine Vinegar
5 ounces Feta

Put the first 4 ingredients into a bowl and mix. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the onion calm down. Add feta, toss, and serve. (By the way, those measurements are very approximate.)

So, I ranted a bit above about leftovers. Funny thing is that this Watermelon Salad only gets better. 24 hours later I thought it was an even tastier salad.

And the Eat Local Challenge?

Because the last couple of days have been so full of leftovers and repeats of previous dishes along with a couple of meals out for various functions, I figured that a play-by-play would not really be useful. Watch for my next post or check out some previous posts to see how this experiment goes with each day.
Challenge Days 1-3
Challenge Days 4-5
Challenge Days 6-9
Challenge Days 10-13

Source: http://www.localfoodbee.com/watermelon-drink-and-watermelon-salad-for-a-big-ol-watermelon/

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