Tuesday, June 03, 2008

It's Watermelon Day!

It's June 3rd and that means it's National Watermelon Day everyone! -- I love yellow watermelon but it's hard to find. My Mother loves watermelon more than I do and I think she would eat it everyday if she could. The both of us like to sprinkle salt on top of our watermelon before we eat it.

I love sweet watermelon rind pickles too. If fact I have a jar of Amish sitting in my frig right now. I eat it along side my hamburgers and hot dogs.

Watermelon is Good for us:
A one-cup serving of watermelon will provide around 48 Calories. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, with one serving containing 14.59 mg of vitamin C and 556.32 IU of vitamin A. Watermelon also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1, as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene.

Watermelon rinds are also edible, and sometimes used as a vegetable. In China, they are stir-fried, stewed, or more often pickled. When stir-fried, the de-skinned and de-fruited rind is cooked with olive oil, garlic, chili peppers, scallions, sugar and rum (and provides a great way to utilize the whole watermelon). Pickled watermelon rind is also commonly consumed in the Southern US, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania.