What’s coming up: Watermelon

The Free Lance-Star food section and the Front Burner blog are reviving a popular feature from years past. Each week we will feature a vegetable or fruit that is in season in our area and offer tips on selection and cooking. Here on the blog, please feel free to offer your own serving suggestions for these seasonal delights!

This week’s feature: Watermelon

When it’s fresh here: July through early September

Fun fact: Watermelon is 92 percent water.

Pick and choose: Look for a melon that is symmetrical, free of bruises and seems heavy for its size. The fruit should have a creamy yellow spot on one side, where it sat on the ground in the field.

Quick serving ideas:

• Watermelon rind pickles are a great way to use all of the fruit, and they have history—the very first cookbook published in the United States in 1776 included a recipe for these pickles.
• Make a frosty watermelon granita: Blitz watermelon chunks in a blender with sugar to taste and a bit of lemon juice. Pour into a wide, shallow container. Freeze for three hours, taking the container out to rake the frozen bits every hour. Then scrape the treat into serving dishes. Garnish with mint or lemon slices.