Nagging Melon Question Answered at Last

In a moment of reckless optimism a couple of days before heading out on vacation, I decided that sure we could eat an entire cantaloupe before we left---no problem, let's buy one!

Then we didn't touch it for two days. 

It could not be left to sit on top of the refrigerator unsupervised until we returned, since it would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to spoil, so the night before we left, after a free preview screening of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (short review: no evident connection with health or libraries, depressing underuse of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li), I sliced it into little pieces and put it in the freezer. 

I really didn't know if it would be any good that way. When I tried freezing whole bananas, the results were not pretty (peel and mash them first, then freeze them for later banana bread, but beware that a whole frozen banana, allowed to thaw, will melt into a soggy blob of mush that is somehow both sticky and slimy). 

Still, if the result was terrible, that was really no worse than leaving the melon to rot while we were gone.

This evening, feeling peckish, I got some out to try. It was frozen, all right, and was initially too hard to chip out of the container, but after a few minutes it thawed enough to work with and I am pleased to report that it was quite palatable. Like a melon-flavored ice cube, with a little texture. Very refreshing on a warm humid evening, too. 

I need hardly mention, but will do so in the interests of appearing to be writing about something relevant to health, that cantaloupe is one of those fruits and vegetables we're advised to eat in vast quantities. It is rich in melon-y goodness, as you can see from this exhaustive breakdown. Mmm, delicious vitamins A and C, potassium, some iron, calcium and fiber. Hail produce!

So I heartily recommend frozen melon as a tasty and cooling and incredibly easy summer dessert, and will not hesitate to freeze another one, one of these days. 

I bet watermelon would work too. I've made a watermelon sorbet before, and it was almost entirely melon after a lot of pureeing in a blender. Why not cut out the middlemachine and just freeze hunks of fruit? 

There may be a reason, but I won't let that stop me from trying it.