Melon Salad with Sweet Wine and Lemon Recipe

By Kate Ramos

Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 15 mins | Active Time: 5 mins | Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Sweet, flavorful melons are the stuff summer dreams are made of, and this simple preparation celebrates their arrival. Seek out a variety of locally grown melons to get the most out of this refreshing salad.

What to buy: We used a white Muscat, a sweet dessert wine made from fragrant Muscat grapes, in this recipe. However, various sweet dessert wines such as Sauternes will work too. Just be sure to stick to white, because a dark wine will turn the fruit gray.

This recipe was featured as part of both our Cooking with Summer Ingredients story and our Picnic Recipes photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sweet dessert wine, such as white Muscat
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon lightly packed lemon zest (from 1/2 medium lemon)
6 pounds mixed melon (such as cantaloupe, honeydew, ambrosia, Canary, Sharlyn, or Crenshaw), large dice (about 9 cups)
2 cups blueberries

INSTRUCTIONS

Place wine in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until reduced by about 1/4, about 7 minutes.
Add honey and lemon zest and stir until honey is dissolved.
Place melon and blueberries in a large bowl, pour wine mixture over top, and toss to combine. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

SOURCE: http://www.chow.com/recipes/11957-melon-salad-with-sweet-wine-and-lemon