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8/3/11

Easiest recipe for pickled watermelon

Apparently today is Watermelon Day. I'm more than happy to celebrate. Watermelon is one of the things that screams summer to me.

I remember growing up in Moscow (not the Idaho one) and eating watermelon in the hot summer months both in the City and whenever my family took Summer vacations by the Black Sea. Oh, those were the times.

Our watermelons back then had seeds. Of course as a child it was fun to spit out the black shiny seeds, but as an adult I prefer the American seedless watermelon.

During the summers, my sister and I also visited our grandparents in a little town in Ukraine called Chernovtsi. Our brother wasn't born yet.

My grandparents loved to cook and fed us well to ensure we weren't skinny. They took this task seriously. We had bread with butter, tomato/cucumber/dill salads. roasted potatoes that were golden and crispy, and many baked treats.

One of my favorites, however, was a snack of pickled watermelon. It was a gorgeous pink color and just with the perfect balance of sweet and salty. Although my grandparents did a proper pickling job, I decided to take a few short cuts last weekend for my first time making pickled watermelon.


Instead of making my own pickling solution, I used the liquid from Phickles' Okra and Snap Beans.


All I did was slice a mini watermelon thinly, put it into a shallow'ish container, cover it with the liquid from the pickled okra and green beans and let it sit in the refrigerator over night.


Here's what you get. The longer you let the watermelon sit in the pickling solution, the less sweet it will be. Once you like the taste of your pickled watermelon, remove it from the pickling solution and store separately.


How to eat this? Straight out of the refrigerator as a snack. Or you can add it to salads.

What's YOUR favorite way to eat a watermelon?

5 comments:

Lara @ GoodCookDoris said...

What a great idea - I never thought to use pickling liquid from the jar on fruit. Thanks for sharing a delicious looking technique (& great photos)!

Delicious Dishings said...

Wow. I have never thought to pickle watermelon. I have put red wine vinegar salad dressing on it before though... so maybe I was going for a similar effect. I love just eating watermelon plain or with feta!

Melissa Jones said...

Summers at the Black Sea, eh? Not too shabby! Seedless watermelon though...noooooo. I love your creativity (but, not so much watermelon. Weird, right?)

Reem said...

Wow what a great idea "pickled Watermelon", sounds fun and tangylicious!!!! Watermelon have been my favorite since childhood and yes my dear I remember them having black seeds too... Will try this one today I have a big boy sitting on my counter.

Chevyman said...

You traitor! Shame on you. Why didn't you give us the ORIGINAL recipe from the Ukraine? That would be priceless! Keep those old traditions and recipes alive. Very precious. Too bad you took the easy useless way out.
Who cares about a ready made pickling solution? I don't. Nothing better than the original from the old country.