A few days ago, we bought a big, sweet, seedless watermelon from Michisk’s Farm at the Union Square Greenmarket. We snarfed up half of it, and then it sat in the fridge. Half a watermelon takes up a LOT of space.
This morning, James said, “I know! Let’s make watermelon juice!”
Here’s the back story. When we lived in El Salvador, our favorite thing to do on a Saturday was to go to the Sheraton Hotel for the Desayuno Picacho, or Peak Breakfast. I worked in El Salvador for a long time, on and off as a technical consultant. In addition to my amazing colleagues there, I have to say that the big draw was the refried beans at the Sheraton Hotel (the same one that was taken over by rebel forces in 1990 – it’s better now).
So when we moved there for a year, I made sure that we had them as often as possible. I learned from my friend Douglas that the key is butter and diced green pepper.
This great Saturday breakfast, named for the local volcano called Izalco, featured refried beans, eggs and home fries. And one day we ordered watermelon juice instead of orange juice. It was a revelation.
We haven’t been to El Salvador in years, and so we make our own watermelon juice. It has to be cold, and preferably in a mason jar. All you need to do is chop up the parts you’d normally eat and throw them in a blender. No need to add extra liquid.
There’s really nothing like it to refresh you on a hot summer day!
~Karen Seiger, Markets of New York City
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