5 Reuses for: Watermelon

When it comes to watermelons, most of us eat the juicy, red fruit portion, and toss the rind and seeds into the trash without even thinking twice! We go for our favorite part, but dismiss the other melon parts as "inedible" or "useless."

It's time to start thinking twice about what we throw in the garbage. There are actually many ways to recycle a watermelon's seeds and the outer shell. The so-called "less popular" parts of a watermelon.

Take a look at some of these great watermelon reuses. The next time you open up a watermelon, you might find yourself looking forward to the rind and seeds more than the actual fruit. Don't say I didn't warn you.

1. Watermelon Rind (Preserves)

This tastes delicious on toast, and is pretty easy to prepare. There are many different variations, but here is one of my favorite recipes.

Ingredients:

Method:

5-6 cups watermelon rind (trim off green skin & pink flesh & cut rind into 1 inch pieces)

4 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

4 cups sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup thinly sliced lemon

Method:

- First combine the salt and watermelon rind with 8 cups of water.

- Let the mixture sit for 6 hours.

- Drain and rinse the rind a couple times, and cover with cold water for 30 minutes.

- Drain again. Sprinkle ginger onto rind.

- Add water to rind, and cook on the stove until tender. Drain.

- Combine the sugar, lemon juice and 6 cups water, and boil in a large pot.

- Add the rind into boiling pot, and leave until syrup thickens (about 30 min).

- Add sliced lemon and cook until lemon rind is transparent.

- Pack hot into several jars, and process them for 20 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yeild: Makes about 6 half pints.

2. Watermelon Bowl

The outer shell of a watermelon can be easily turned into a bowl or basket. It's great at holding fresh fruit and berries-you can carve off pieces of the rind with a spoon as you eat the fruit. It adds a whole new flavor.

I also love to pour juice into the bowl, and stick it in the freezer. After a couple hours, I get a delicious frozen fruit juice popsicle thingy, one that I can scrape up with a spoon. Sort of like Italian Ice.

Here's how to make a watermelon bowl/basket:

- Cut the watermelon in half, either horizontally or vertically.

- Then simply cut the main part of the fruit out, and scrape off any remaining red fruit.

And there you have it—a watermelon bowl! Just don't forget to eat the melon you put aside.

3. Tokhmeh Roasted Watermelon Seeds

Having grown up in a Persian-American household, Tokhmeh, or toasted watermelon seeds, were a household staple. I mean, you could literally find a bowl of Tokhmeh in every room except the bathroom. Whether it was in a movie theater or around the neighborhood block, you always knew my mother had been there by the trail of watermelon seed shells left behind.

For thousands of years, Persians have spent many hours of the day cracking open the shell of a roasted watermelon seed, and snacking on the inside part. It's a lot of work for something not so filling, but it passes the time and can get pretty addictive. Very much like Sunflower or Pumpkin Seeds, but even smaller.

Here's how you do it:

- Dry the watermelon seeds in the sun.

- Then sprinkle a little salt water on a baking sheet, and over 1 layer of the watermelon seeds.

- Roast in a 350°F oven, turning occasionally, until crunchy (about 10 minutes).

- Salt to taste.

4. Watermelon Garden

You can always plant your watermelon seeds in the backyard to grow some more melons. Just remember that watermelons need lots of space, so be sure to plant the seeds far apart from one another (at least 6 feet apart). And make sure that the climate is warm.

And while you're in the garden, compost your rind.

5. Ethanol

Get this: researchers and scientists are now working together to prove how melons can play an integral role in a more eco-friendly global community. It turns out there are some major benefits to recycling all the parts of a watermelon.

More specifically, they're now realizing how watermelons can be turned into ethanol! Because watermelons are made out of 10-15% Sugar, they are extremely viable candidates for alternative sources of energy fuel.

There really are so many great reuses for a watermelon; it would be a tragedy to let any part of a watermelon go to waste. Whether it's by fueling our automobile engines, or just by making some really yummy breakfast preserves, we should all keep our watermelons out of the trash. Reuse those rinds & seeds!

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