I’m getting old! Let’s celebrate with a Watermelon tomato salsa

French fries or bright yellow beans?

What? … Do you think this is a difficult choice?

But what if I tell you that they both these long yellow stalks (!) led into this recipe for Watermelon Tomato Salsa?

 

Today exactly 10 years ago I posted my very first blogpost ever. About French fries. Cause I thought it was a great idea to start a food blog with something festive.

Something decisive.

A dish that disputes people.
The French and the Belgians, for the origin of the idea of deep frying potato bars.
In the Netherlands we argue about how to call them. In the northern part we call it ‘patat’, and ‘friet’ in the south. Nope, we don’t call ’em French.
And of course  ….  size matters. We Dutch like ’em big and tall. With a soft fully cooked center and a crispy outside, served in a paper cone topped with mayonnaise.

That’s not to question, right?

What I could not know 10 years ago is how my blogging would change. From simply posting my favorite recipes to longer stories about getting to know new ingredients and how to cook with them. I also couldn’t foresee how my cooking would change. From following easy recipes from the free supermarket magazine to making them up myself. That in turn changed my life. I became a chef, food writer and cooking teacher.
And I crossed an ocean. That’s why I started to blog in English. Exactly two years ago I wrote this easy recipe for yellow beans with feta as the first blogpost here on edie eats.

Time flies!

Although I don’t have anything planned to celebrate it, I couldn’t let this 10 year anniversary pass completely unnoticed. Thankfully, we don’t have to pretend this Watermelon Tomato Salsa is festive. It simply is.

Watermelon Tomato Salsa

When looking for different ways to eat that huge watermelon, a salsa came to mind on yesterday’s taco day. I basically replaced the original crunchy bell pepper with the sweet watermelon. It made the salsa a bit softer in texture, but it went really well with the fatty pulled pork that I hauled out of my freezer.

I used for 2:
1 dried chipotle
3 small tomatoes, or about 1 cup chopped
watermelon, about 3/4 cup when chopped
1 lime
5 twigs of parsley or cilantro
salt and pepper

I did:
Soak the chipotle. When making tea early in the morning, I poured some of the hot water over the chipotle and let it soak all day. No worries, an hour will be sufficient. Chop the chipotle.
I used a bit of the soaking water to warm and juicy up my pulled pork.

Tip: When in Mexico, I learned that salsa isn’t about spiciness. Not at all! The Mexican choose their chiles carefully for their flavor. I like to use the dried smoked chipotle for its wonderful fragant, but I simply use only a bit of it, as chipotles can be quite spicy.

Cut the veggies. Both tomatoes and watermelon into small cubes. Very small cubes. Grate the green part of the lime and add half of it to the veggies. Chop the parsley.

Bring to taste. Add chipotle (I used about 1/3 of it), lime juice (I started with 2 teaspoons), salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with taco’s.
But I would love to try it on fries and beans! 😉

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