Use Your Melon… and Berries

7 recipes for summer’s best fruits.

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Natalie Gruendl

From cantaloupe and honeydew to raspberries and goji, here are 7 light and bright recipes starring some of the season’s sweetest produce.

Berry Salsa

¼ cup each of blueberries, strawberries (sliced), raspberries and blackberries 1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon minced jalapeño (adjust amount for desired heat)

Toss the berries with sugar, and let them sit for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, and serve with baked Brie.

Blue Puppy Cocktail

1½ ounces Catoctin Creek Watershed gin
1½ ounces honeysuckle, blueberry, allspice, hibiscus and sugar tincture
¾ ounces Dolin Vermouth Blanc
2 shakes Angostura orange bitters
1 chocolate mint to garnish

Combine gin, tincture, vermouth and bitters in an ice-filled Boston Shaker. Shake vigorously and serve in a chilled champagne coupe. Garnish with a leaf of mint.

Broccoli and Goji Berry Salad

⅓ cup goji berries soaked for 30 min in orange juice
1 pound broccoli florets, sliced as fine as you can
zest of half an orange (organic! and well washed)
juice of 1 lemon
½ cup of lupini beans or chickpeas cooked
½ cup of any fruit you like (strawberries are great!)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon sea salt

Mix everything together and let sit for 1 hour before serving.

Serves 3

Fruit & Waffle Cones

8 waffle cones
8 blackberries
8 slices melon
8 slices peaches
8 slices strawberries

Place one of each piece of fruit into each cone. 

Serves 8

Melon Martini

½ ounce Champagne
½ ounce triple sec
¾ ounce lime juice
3 ounces Van Gogh melon vodka
2 ounces honeydew or cantaloupe, puréed

Mix all in a shaker.

Serves 1

Melon Popsicles

1 melon of your choice, puréed
1 pint berries of your choice, puréed
lime juice to taste

Add lime juice to purées until desired taste is achieved. Fill six popsicle molds halfway with one purée and freeze for 30 minutes. Then fill molds with second purée and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Serves 6

Red Berry Pudding

4 cups currants
2 cups raspberries
2 cups strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the berries with sugar and marinate 15 minutes to release their juices. Add 1 cup water, bring to a simmer and simmer on low for 8 – 10 minutes. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, add to the simmering fruit mixture and simmer for 2 more minutes. Add lemon juice and vanilla. Once partially cool, fill into appropriate vessels and refrigerate overnight. Serve with heavy cream (preferred), whipped cream, vanilla sauce or plain yogurt.