Watermelon Recipes - Picking Out a Good Watermelon

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Stephanie Simek

Director of PR and Social Media, National Watermelon Promotion Boa

www.watermelon.org

877-599-9595

ssimek@watermelon.org

The National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB) operates with a single objective: to increase consumer demand for watermelon through promotion, research, and educational programs.

Through publicity on television, radio, the internet, newspapers and magazines, the board showcases watermelon as a healthy, refreshing, versatile fruit. Thanks in part to board efforts, watermelon is not only for picnics anymore, but has won a regular place on consumers' shopping lists enjoyed year-round in slices or added to a wide variety of desserts, drinks and other recipes.

Anything and everything you want to know about watermelon, including a large bank of recipes, can be found at our website, www.watermelon.org.

Watermelon Recipes - Picking Out a Good Watermelon

Have you ever wanted to learn how to pick out a good watermelon at the grocery store? Stephanie Simek from watermelon.org goes over the easy 1, 2, 3s for choosing the ripest, juiciest watermelon.

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Food

Watermelon

Drinks

Fruit

Beverages

Watermelon Recipes - Picking Out a Good Watermelon

Ingredients

Watermelon Dippers

Ingredients:

8 ounces sour cream

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Watermelon stix or small wedges

Instructions:Blend together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla in a small serving bowl. Use as a dip for the watermelon.

Frosted Watermelon

Ingredients:Seedless watermelon cut into ½- to ¾-inch thick slices

Yogurt Granola or similar cereal

Instructions:Using your favorite cookie cutters cut shapes out of a ½- to ¾-inch thick slices of seedless watermelon. Or, if you prefer, use classic cut watermelon wedges. Frost with vanilla or other flavor yogurt. Sprinkle with granola

Grilled Chicken, Boursin and Watermelon Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 9- or 10-inch round herbed focaccia

5.2 ounces of Boursin cheese

2 or 3 grilled skinless boneless chicken breast halves, sliced

3 or 4 thin slices seeded watermelon

¼ cup sesame seeds

2 or 3 ounces baby arrugula

Instructions: Split the focaccia through the center as for a sandwich and spread the Boursin over the cut sides of the bread. Arrange the chicken over the Boursin on the bottom piece of bread. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the watermelon and grill it quickly over hot coals just to warm. Arrange in an even layer over the chicken and top the watermelon with the arrugula. Place the top of the bread, Boursin side down, over the arrugula. Cut sandwich into halves or quarters.

BCWTP

Ingredients: 2 thick slices bread of choice, toasted

2 tablespoons pesto sauce

2 slices cheddar cheese

1 2/3-inch thick slice seedless watermelon about the same size as the bread

2 thin slices tomato

4 slices cooked crisp bacon

2 butter lettuce leaves

Instructions: Spread the pesto over 1 side of each slice of toast. On one slice of toast stack the cheese, watermelon, tomato, bacon and lettuce on top of pesto. Place the other slice of toast, pesto side down, on top of the lettuce. Cut in half and enjoy.

Instructions

My Favorite Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients:

About 6 ounces baby spinach leaves, cut into strips

3 cups shredded carrots, blanched and cooled

3 cups small cubes of seedless watermelon

1 cup Japanese-style ginger dressing

1 cup toasted sliced almonds

Instructions:In an 8 x 11 inch serving dish, layer the spinach on the bottom, then the carrots and the watermelon on top. Pour the dressing over the top and sprinkle with almonds. Serve immediately.

Sweet Sour Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar or to taste

1 tablespoon poppy seed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch scallions, trimmed and chopped

3 cups seedless watermelon balls or small chunks

2 English cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced into small slices

Instructions: Mix together the vinegar, water, sugar (adjusting as desired) and poppy seeds in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chopped scallions. Place the watermelon and cucumber in a serving bowl and pour the marinade over the top. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate a couple of hours before serving. Toss gently before serving.

Transcripts

Stephanie Simek: Hi! I am Stephanie Simek from the National Watermelon Promotion Board. I am going to show you how to pick out a good watermelon from your grocery store. When we go to our grocery stores, we are usually bombarded with the bin of watermelon and they have such a thick rind it's hard to tell just by looking at it. But I am going to show you the 1, 2, 3s.

Number one, we are going to look at it. You want to make sure your watermelon is pretty symmetrical that it's free of any major gashes or bruises or soft spots. Number two is we're going to pick it up. Watermelon is 92% water, so it should be very heavy for its size, like this one. Number three, we are going to turn it over. We're looking for the ground spot where the watermelon sat on the ground, and ripened in the sun. And this spot should be a buttery yellow, just like this one. You don't want it to be too white green or overly yellow. This one looks pretty good.

And that's how you pick out a great watermelon.