WATERMELON JUICE WITH GINGER, LIME & MINT

WATERMELON JUICE WITH GINGER, LIME & MINT

 With the days becoming hotter, we need to take in more liquids than before. What better way than to have fresh watermelon juice which is both refreshing as well as good for health. There are several versions of the watermelon juice. In today's recipe, I have shared the version suggested by my friend Shyamala Kini which includes crushed ginger, mint and lime.

The best part of this juice is that you don't need to add any sugar at all, provided the watermelon is sweet .You can, of course, add sugar if you wish too. There is no need to add any water either. The mint used for the garnish can be chewed and should not be discarded as it has a good taste of its own.

Ingredients:

• Watermelon, 1/2 of a medium sized melon
• Ginger, 1/2 " piece
• Lime, 1/2 a medium-sized
• Sugar, optional, or as per taste
• Salt, a pinch
• Mint leaves, chopped, a few

Method:

Wash, peel and de-seed the watermelon
Cut into bite- size pieces and place in a blender
Next, crush the ginger finely and add to the watermelon pieces
In a blender, blend the watermelon pieces along with the crushed ginger, without adding any water
Add lime juice
Add salt
Add sugar, if required
After blending all the above, pour into glasses
Garnish with chopped mint leaves
Serve chilled with ice cubes

WATERMELON FRUIT PLATTER

WATERMELON FRUIT PLATTER

A fruit platter is a delight to make and a completed one a feast for the eyes. A nicely done fruit platter makes an attractive addition to the lunch or dinner that you are hosting. It adds considerable colour to the table apart from, of course, being part of the dessert offering. Many who avoid high calorie sweet dishes settle for the fruits, though I am sure they would love to go for the sweets only if they could.

In an earlier post, I have shared a Pineapple Boat with you.

The fruit platter I present today has the following :

• Watermelon
• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Apples

In this, the first step is to make the watermelon stand firmly by slicing off a part of the bottom.  Then we scoop out the watermelon fruit.  Using a knife we decorate the watermelon by make a serrated edge right round the watermelon. I have then placed this on a bed of lettuce leaves.Then we fill up the watermelon " bowl" with fruits, including pieces of the watermelon, of course. The "bowl" also has the advantage of catching the juices that may flow from the cut fruit.

I have used a few red roses to add more colour to the arrangement but feel free to use colourful flowers as creatively as you can.

Some tips on preparing the platter:

• Do all the cutting and dicing first, the assembling of the platter and arranging the fruit comes later
• Cut the fruit into bite sized pieces so that it is easy for folk to eat
• De-seed where required
• At times, the juices of the fruit could still flow, so make sure you have something at the bottom of the platter to catch these juices and prevent them from spilling.

Enjoy!