Watermelon Man...

No matter how long you've been in a relationship with someone, there is always something new to learn about them. Even though I feel like I've gotten Justin mostly figured out in the past twenty-one months, there are still plenty of discoveries to be made. For instance, this week I figured out that the best way to get Justin to plow through uninteresting leftovers is to turn them into salsa.

A miscommunication at Wednesday's potluck party left us with two entire watermelons that had already been cut up. Our guests only ate one of them, leaving us with an entire enormous bowl of melon to ourselves, and as it turns out, I can barely tolerate watermelon. It's just too sweet for me. After a couple days of trying to force feed Justin as much of the fruit as possible before it went bad, and making little progress I had a bit of an epiphany -- Justin loves snacking. He especially loves snacks that can be eaten on chips, like salsa, hummus, guacamole, and cheese spread. Perhaps the secret to making the watermelon disappear could be found in transforming the watermelon into something he'd be more interested in eating.

I was partially inspired in this idea by a work party I attended a couple weeks ago, also a potluck that had been catered by the staff. Shelby, a friend of mine, had brought an unusual cantaloupe salsa, and I had tried it (despite my disliking cantaloupe even more than watermelon), because I felt compelled to sample all of the dishes that my friends had made. It just so happened that the combination of a fruit that I loathed, cilantro (which I also hate), onion, jalapeño, and lime juice transcended its dubious origins and was really rather tasty. If cantaloupe could be good in salsa, then why not watermelon?

I did a quick web search on watermelon salsa, and found a suitable-looking recipe that happened to include mostly ingredients that I already had on hand. While I worked on dinner, I had Justin cut up the ingredients for the salsa as a pre-dinner snack/side dish.

My hunch panned out -- my salsa gambit worked like a charm. Not only did Justin like it, he practically inhaled the entire batch before dinner. After our actual meal, he proceeded to turn the entire remainder of the watermelon into more salsa. Now I've got my eye on turning the leftover corn on the cob from the party into a grilled corn salsa, since that doesn't seem to interest him in its current form either. I have discovered the secret to disposing of unwanted leftovers!

Watermelon Salsa

adapted from Taste of Home

2 c. watermelon, diced

1/2 c. cucumber, diced

1/4 c. red bell pepper, diced

1/4 c. onion, minced

1/2 large jalapeño, minced

1/4 c. cilantro, minced

2 tablespoons honey

juice of 1/2 lime 

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, lime juice, and salt and pour over salsa. Stir to combine. Serve with tortilla chips.