Mint Melonade

The way she tells it in My New Roots: Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season, author Sarah Britton stumbled upon this recipe through a fortuitous slip of the tongue. In trying to say “lemonade”, she instead said “melonade”…and it got her thinking. What a delicious sounding idea! Thank goodness for happy accidents.

This recipe is wonderfully simple and delicately balanced; in playing with the recipe, I tried it with extra lime juice, extra honey, and a few cherries that were laying around…none of these variations were as good as the original. The only addition that made any sense was a splash of tequila, at a certain time of day...Use a light, floral honey, for best results.

As for melons, we love the amazing Piel de Sapo melons, available locally from Happy Boy Farms, or the Charentais melon, with its incredible perfumed flesh. Any cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon will do, though the green color pairs nicely with the touch of mint.

Directions

Prepare the melon. Slice the rind from the flesh, and chop the melon into rough cubes.
Put the chopped melon in a blender, and add the lime juice and honey. Blend on high speed until smooth and frothy.
Add the mint leaves, and pulse just to chop.
Fill a glass 2/3 full of ice, and pour in the melon mixture to near the top.
Top with sparkling water and stir.
Garnish with mint leaves, if desired.
Spike it if you like it.

Over to You

It’s part of our mission here at Mountain Feed to help you make delicious, sustainable, homemade food more often. Stop by and say hello on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. Or, as always, you can do it the old fashioned way and come by the store to speak with one of our in-house experts.