7 Uses for Watermelon (Including the Rind)

Have you ever heard the expression 'from the rooter to the tooter'? Well I had this in mind when I recently received a watermelon. After day 3 it seemed that the family did not have any intentions of finishing it and since I am that annoying person in families that gets on everyone's case about wasting food, I decided to take action.

Not only did I not want the watermelon to go to waste but I also wondered if there was a way to use all of the watermelon, which also meant dealing with the rind. There my week of everything watermelon began.

The information I have here is not meant to be a step by step recipe on how to make all of these things, but to provide ideas and notable tips from my time in the kitchen with this new ingredient. Please apply the uses with your own cooking methods and recipes to your taste. If you are interested in what recipes I used, feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to assist you.

List of seven things that I used the watermelon for on my #nowaste journey:

1. Watermelon Juice Drink
2. Granita
3. Granita Cocktail
4. Candied Rind and Marmalade
5. Plant Food
6. Cookies with Watermelon Rind Marmalade 
7. Glazed Chicken Wings

1. Watermelon Juice Drink (Watermelon, sugar, lime)

This particular watermelon had both white and black seeds so I decided to blend the watermelon and strain it so that I could get the juice without seeds. I added sugar to taste, zest and juice of one lime. That's it, your ready to drink and be refreshed.

2. Watermelon Granita 

Take the Watermelon Juice Drink and put in the freezer, scraping the mixture every 30 minutes. In my case, I currently have a freezer that doesn't freeze as fast as it should so mine took a little longer, I scraped the mixture approximately every hour. If you have similar issues, be patient, it will freeze and you will have delicious granita to be eaten as is or used in a cocktail.

3. Watermelon Granita Cocktail (Watermelon Granita + Rum)

This is one super refreshing cocktail - perfect for hot Caribbean nights - no ice needed! I tried making this 2 ways, the first was adding the rum to a glass and then adding in the granita and the second was fulling the glass with granita and then adding the rum. I think both ways tasted pretty much the same but I noticed more of the granita melted right away with the first method and with this drink you want the granita to last as long as possible in ice form, especially if you enjoy having some with a spoon like I do. Either way, absolutely delicious cocktail and I plan to try other flavors soon.

4. Watermelon Candied Rind and Marmalade

I must start off by letting you know I have never candied anything before but was determined to try this in an effort to not let any of this watermelon go to waste. There were 2 methods I noted when researching a recipe - 1) boil first with vinegar and then cook with sugar/water and 2) cooking with sugar/water. I attempted both methods 3 cups rind with method 1, and 1 cup with method 2. The purpose of the vinegar is to hold the shape of the cut pieces which is optimal when the final desired result is candied pieces.

Method one is my preferred method as it allows you to control the finished product better. As for my results, how did I know if I had achieved the right texture? Two days later my daughter asked me if those were gummy bears and that was confirmation enough for me. I have snacked on some just as is and also plan to use some in a Jamaican Spice Bun recipe which requires guava jam (can substitute with watermelon rind marmalade) and dried fruit.

For the marmalade, I put the syrup and rind pieces (cooled a little) in a food processor and pulsed until there were no longer any chunks. Many recipes require the marmalade to be stored in a jar but all I had was a glass bowl so I used that and covered it tightly with plastic wrap.

5. Plant Food

I selected some of the rind specifically for the purpose of planting as I already had 4 cups of rind prepped to cook. These pieces were cut differently so that there was a pointy edge that could easily be pushed down into the soil. After a couple days a plant that had been neglected started flourishing again, along with some water and love of course.

6. Cookies 

As I did not want the Watermelon Rind Marmalade to go to waste (family doesn't use marmalade often) I researched cookie recipes with marmalade. The recipe I tried used 6 tablespoons of the marmalade so it was a good way to use up a god portion of what I had made. I also used some of the marmalade as a finishing touch atop the whipped cream.

7. Glazed Chicken Wings

These Watermelon Rind Marmalade Glazed Wings are just the right kind of sweet. I don't like wings to be overly sweet and the marmalade complemented the other seasonings well (using your usual seasoning for baked wings is fine). To get this glazed effect I started off with the oven at a temperature of 350 to let them cook through in some liquid (turning them over once) so that they wouldn't dry out, and then I added the marmalade, set the oven to 400 degrees for the last 15-20 minutes to let the wings get a little crispy with the marmalade. I served the wings with Alfredo Vegetable Pasta.

Throughout my wonderful week of watermelon I realized that there are still many more ways to use this wonderful ingredient. Any tips and recommendations are welcome. Pleasant journey in this sweet life.