Recipe for melon with lime, peanut and mint topping
Cantaloupe, casaba, crenshaw, canary: I adore melon, and not just the orange-fleshed ones. Squirt some fresh lime on chunks of ripe, juicy melon, and I'm in breakfast or dessert heaven. Still, I'm in a shake-it-up mood these days when it comes to old favorites in the kitchen (remember the maple cinnamon matzoh brei). So, inspired by mint coming up in my garden, I decided to try slices of melon with a lime, peanut and mint topping. You'll see fish sauce in the list of ingredients; before you turn up your nose, let me assure you the topping is not fishy. It's just pleasantly, vaguely Thai, and the balance of the tart sauce with the sweet melon will make you wish every Thai restaurant in your neighborhood had this dish on its menu.
Melon with lime, peanut and mint topping
From the pantry, you'll need: roasted unsalted peanuts, fish sauce, lime, brown sugar, rice vinegar.
Serves 4.
Ingredients
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts
10 small spearmint leaves
2 tsp fish sauce (I prefer Three Crabs brand)
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, plus some zest for garnish
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp rice vinegar
12 thin slices of ripe melon, any type, chilled
Directions
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, add the peanuts and mint leaves, and pulse 10 times to chop roughly. Then, add the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and rice vinegar. Process for 5-10 seconds, until the peanuts are more finely chopped but are not yet beginning to turn to peanut butter. There will be very little liquid in the mixture; this is a topping, not a dressing.
Arrange slices of melon on individual serving plates, and spoon on the peanut topping. Garnish with lime zest and additional mint leaves.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Fruit and Nutella puff pastry tartlets
Thai iced tea
Lemon walnut yogurt dessert
Grilled fruit with cardamom yogurt
Grilled peaches with balsamic and granola
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Thai-style spicy cabbage slaw with mint and cilantro, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Chicken with coconut-lime peanut sauce, from Family Fresh Cooking
Cantaloupe strawberry salad with lime syrup and mint, from Andrea Meyers
Cold noodles with peanut sauce, from David Lebovitz
Melon and mozzarella salad with honey, lime and mint, from Pinch My Salt
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I just love this culinary combination!
I love this idea, sounds fantastic. I might like it with cilantro too in addition to or instead of the mint.
Vanillasugar, so do I. The young mint in the garden gives this such a fresh flavor, and I love the crunch of the nuts with the soft melon.
Kalyn, cilantro would be great, I imagine. I know how much you love it! I have a little bit that self-seeded from last year, so I'm going to try it in combination with the mint.
oh boy - Although I have faith - this seems just a bit too scary for me. (no offense!) But then again I rely on more adventurous folks to try out new things for me.. so.. maybe....
Carol, we all tend to take sweet fruit and make it sweeter. This recipe goes a different way, and it's a nice change.
I love the combination of flavors in this Lydia - sweet, sour, minty, salty.
Jeanette, with a perfectly ripe melon, this topping was so good!
What a great combination! It reminds me of something I like to get at our local Thai restaurant.
M&M, yes, it's somewhat Thai, and I think I'd love to find this on my local restaurant menu.
Awesome topping, I know I would love it, although it might take a bit of convincing to make my beloved go for it (he is a purist when it comes to fruit...)
I agree that cilantro could make a pretty good version too!