I hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day. The weather here was finally beautiful. I made pancakes and Alexander made me a play doh shrimp breakfast burrito. Delicious! I also had a cantaloupe, Alexander’s favorite. I knew it wasn’t completely ripe but I wanted it for our special breakfast.
Mistake. Alexander handed it right back to me. No sweetness at all. What to do?
Well I was not going to be defeated. I looked at the cantaloupe on the cutting board with the seeds still sitting there and I remembered “Agua Fresca”.
Agua Fresca means “fresh waters” in Spanish. We used to make Agua Frescas in the restaurant kitchen in the summer when we would have tons of cantaloupe and honeydew seeds left over. The kitchen was always so hot that the Agua Frescas would be the only refreshing thing to keep you going. We would throw all the seeds and pulp around the seeds into a big Bain, handfuls of sugar and 4 quarts of water. Use the giant immersion blender, then strain and serve over ice.
I decided to salvage the cantaloupe and make an Agua Fresca. I didn’t want to use as much sugar as I would normally. I thought about using Agave Nectar as a sweetener, but then looked up the nutritional information and apparently although it has a low glycemic index it is very high in fructose. Ugh so not the solution to adding sweetness. Then I remembered I had frozen mango. I could cut down on the actual sugar but make up for it with the mango. I also threw in some mint from our windowsill mint plant and now we had a beautiful drink to go with our breakfast.
Never heard of using Cantaloupe seeds. Well me neither until my coworkers from Mexico introduced me to Agua Fresca. Apparently cantaloupe seeds are high in fiber, high in protein and full of anti-oxidants. So don’t throw them out next time, save them and make an Agua Fresca.
Avec Amour, Victoria and Alexander.
Cantaloupe Mango Agua Fresca
Yield – 4 Servings
2 Cups Cantaloupe, peeled and cut 1/2″ cubes
Seeds and pulp of 1 Cantaloupe
Juice of half a Lemon
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Cups Water, cold
8 Mint Leaves
1 Cup Mango, frozen cubes
1 Cup Water, cold
4 – 8 Ice Cubes
4 Springs of Mint for garnish
1. Put cantaloupe cubes, seeds, lemon juice, sugar and 2 cups of water in a blender
and blend on highest setting for 5 minutes.
2. Pour into strainer and push down with a spatula
to strain everything except the large pulp.
Discard pulp. Rinse out blender and return juice.
3. Add mint leaves,
mango cubes, 1 cup of water and ice cubes.
Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with mint.
If you don’t have the frozen mango, you can make it with just cantaloupe, but I would add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of sugar. If it is a really hot day just add some more ice cubes and make it slushy.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Cantaloupe, peeled and 1/2" cubed
- Seeds and pulp of 1 Cantaloupe
- Juice of half a Lemon
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 2 Cups Water, cold
- 8 Mint Leaves
- 1 Cup Mango, frozen cubes
- 1 Cup Water, cold
- 4 - 8 Ice Cubes
- 4 Sprigs of Mint for garnish
Instructions
- Put cantaloupe cubes, seeds, lemon juice, sugar and 2 cups water in a blender and blend on highest setting for 5 minutes.
- Pour into strainer and push down with a spatula to strain everything except the large pulp. Discard pulp. Rinse out blender and return juice.
- Add mint leaves, mango cubes, 1 cup of water and ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with mint sprigs.
Notes
If you don't have the frozen mango, you can make it with just cantaloupe, but I would add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of sugar. If it is a really hot day just add some more ice cubes and make it slushy.
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