Tangy Melon Salad
Tangy Melon Salad
Who knew that you could create a dish bursting with delightful flavors and textures with just a handful of simple ingredients? Serve it as a side dish, a light and refreshing lunch, or a snack—you decide!
Happy & Healthy Cooking,
Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills
- chop :
to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.
- measure :
to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).
- season :
to add flavor to food with spices, herbs, and salt.
Equipment Checklist
- Cutting board + kid-safe knife
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
Tangy Melon Salad
- 1/2 small cantaloupe or honeydew melon
- 1/4 C reserved cooked green onions from Sweetly Charred Scallion Asian Ramen Noodles recipe if making OR 2 green onions
- 1 tsp granulated sugar or honey
- 2 T vegetable oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce **(for GLUTEN/SOY ALLERGY sub coconut aminos)**
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, optional **(Omit sesame seeds for SESAME ALLERGY)**
- 1 pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
Food Allergen Substitutions
Tangy Melon Salad
- Gluten/Wheat: Substitute coconut aminos for soy sauce.
- Soy: Substitute coconut aminos for soy sauce.
- Sesame: Omit optional sesame seeds.
Instructions
Tangy Melon Salad
chop + measure
Start by chopping 1/2 of your favorite melon (I recommend cantaloupe or honeydew) into a large dice. Place all of the melon in a large mixing bowl. In this recipe, you will marinade the melon to give it a new, more savory flavor. Measure and add 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar. Stir to combine and set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
chop + season
Chop 2 green onions into a small dice and add them to the bowl of melon OR use 1/4 cup reserved cooked green onions if you made Sweetly Charred Scallion Asian Ramen Noodles (see recipe). Give the mixture a taste and decide if you would like to add any extra sugar, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, or even 1 pinch of red pepper flakes. Once you have the flavor just right for your tastebuds, let the mixture marinate for 10 to 15 minutes. This will soften the melon and make it absorb some of the flavorful liquid you added to the mixture.
serve
Serve this tasty salad alongside your favorite Asian meal. It pairs perfectly with our Sweetly Charred Scallion Asian Ramen Noodles with Nori Crunch and Sunshine Melon Sodas (see recipes).
Hi! I’m Cantaloupe!
"I'm so happy to be part of your recipe today! I'm a variety of muskmelon with firm and juicy orange flesh. People often eat me with breakfast and in fruit salads and desserts. Because I'm made up of 90 percent water, the great taste of a juicy, sweet cantaloupe comes with a very small caloric price: only 50 calories per 6-ounce slice!"
History & Etymology
- Cantaloupe derives its name from the town of Cantalupo, Italy, where cantaloupe seeds arrived from Armenia and were planted in the papal gardens in the 16th century.
- Cantaloupe has plenty of relatives! It is a member of a vine-crop family known as Cucurbitaceae, which includes other melons, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds. It is thought that they originally grew in the wilds of India and other parts of Asia.
- Explorers brought cantaloupe to the New World in seed form and later saw it cultivated by Native Americans.
- Of all the melons, cantaloupe is the most popular in the United States!
- Colorado Rocky Ford Cantaloupes have been grown in the Arkansas River Valley since 1887.
Anatomy
- North American cantaloupes have a light yellow and green net-like rind or peel. When you cut one in half, you will see that its firm, moderately sweet flesh is orange with seeds in the middle.
- Cantaloupe sizes range from 4 to 7 inches in diameter, and they weigh between one to eleven pounds.
- How to Pick, Buy, & Eat
- It takes cantaloupes 3 to 4 months to grow before they are mature enough to be picked.
- When choosing cantaloupe, do not pick one with the stem still attached, which means the fruit is immature.
- Look for melons with a yellowish tint to the rind and a strong melon smell. Use your thumb to press on the cantaloupe rind. The cantaloupe should yield to gentle pressure when it is ripe.
- To ripen a cantaloupe at home, leave it at room temperature for two to four days. However, if it is already ripe, refrigerate it until ready to eat.
- Don't forget to wash your cantaloupe thoroughly before cutting it! The surface of the rind could have harmful bacteria, like salmonella.
- After cutting a cantaloupe, wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for up to three days until you're ready to eat it.
- Cantaloupe seeds can be roasted and eaten like pumpkin seeds.
- You can eat cantaloupe by itself for a snack or with breakfast, or slice, cube, or blend it and add to salads, soups, sauces, desserts, sorbet, granitas, or drinks.
Nutrition
- Cantaloupe is an excellent source of vitamins A and C and beta-carotene. These nutrients are antioxidants, and when they are present in the food we eat, they help protect cells and fight disease.
- Cantaloupe also contributes to fiber intake, and fiber aids digestion and helps lower bad cholesterol levels.
Let's Learn About Asia!
- Asia is the largest continent on Earth in land area and population. About 8 billion people live on our planet, and 4.7 billion people live in Asia—over half! It takes up almost 30 percent of the world's total land area.
- As a comparison, North America is the third largest continent in land area, covering 16.5 percent of Earth, and it is the fourth largest in population, with almost 600 million people.
- The continent is divided into six main regions: North (Siberia), South, Central, East, West, and Southeast. A partial list of Asian countries includes China, Japan, and South Korea in East Asia; the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam in Southeast Asia; India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in South Asia; Iraq, Israel, and Turkey, in West Asia; Russia in North Asia; and Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
- Asia borders Europe in the West, although the border is not strictly geographical since Asia and Europe are both part of the single continent of Eurasia. It borders Africa in the Southwest, the Arctic Ocean in the North, the Pacific Ocean in the East, and the Indian Ocean in the South.
- Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, and Mesopotamia (Iraq) are the four cradles of civilization in the Old World, where early human settlements began.
- There are many different languages, ethnic groups, cultures, governments, religions, and foods in Asia.
- Asian cuisine is known for its use of spices, including chili pepper, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, fennel, garlic, ginger, and turmeric.
- Different varieties of rice are a staple in most Asian countries. In India, basmati rice is popular, while in Thailand, they like jasmine rice. In some places, noodles are part of daily meals instead.
- The three types of Asian noodles are glass (cellophane), rice, and wheat, and some Asian noodle dishes are lo mein, ramen, soba, and udon. In addition, fresh vegetables are included in many Asian cuisines, like bok choy, cabbage, eggplant, and spinach.
Lettuce Joke Around
What did the one melon say to the other melon when they fell in love?
We’re just too young ... we cantaloupe!
THYME for a Laugh
A watermelon proposed to its sweetheart: “Honeydew, wanna get married?”
“Oh yes,” she replied, “but we cantaloupe!”
THYME for a Laugh
How do you make a cantaloupe shake?
Put it into the freezer until it shivers.
That's Berry Funny
Why did the cantaloupe jump into the water?
Because it wanted to be a watermelon!
