Cool watermelon a sweet, nutritious treat for hot Fourth of July holiday
Many of us will hit the parks, our neighborhood streets or someone’s backyard this week to celebrate Independence Day. We will fire up our grills and bring out tasty side dishes to match while we enjoy gathering with our friends and family, enjoying summertime and fireworks and the fact that we have many more freedoms than most of the rest of the world. This is also a time to appreciate good health and the lifestyle factors that help us create and maintain it.
Good quality, health- ful food, not just goodtasting food, plays a big role in getting ourselves healthy and making sure we stay that way. Here in the Mid-South, we are lucky because we have an abundance of locally grown produce that tastes delicious and provides us with good nutrition too. Locally grown watermelons are starting to become available. A Tennessean, in fact, is responsible for the world’s biggest watermelon. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Bill Carson of Arrington, south of Nashville, as the grower of the largest recorded watermelon. Big or small, it is hard to beat the refreshment of cold watermelon on a hot day.
Watermelon might as
well be nicknamed “summer melon” because this is when it’s ripe and ready and sweet. July is peak time to find delicious ones at a reasonable cost. In addition to being refreshing, they have a pretty good nutritional pedigree. They are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and a good source of vitamin B6. Vitamin A is necessary to maintain a clear cornea at the front of the eye, enabling the light to shine through. It is important at the back of the eye as well, as part of a substance called rhodopsin. This protein is integral to vision because it is involved in transporting information via nerve pathways to the brain. We need a steady supply of vitamin A to make new rhodopsin.
Watermelon is also very high in lycopene. Lycopene is a carotenoid found in plants, and is especially high in fruits and vegetables with a red color. Think tomatoes and pink grapefruit, as well as watermelon. In plants, carotenoids help neutralize components produced during photosynthesis that can attack and destroy a plant’s cell membranes. Humans also benefit from carotenoids, because erratic oxygen molecules naturally produced from body processes can damage human cell membranes. Lycopene is especially helpful in neutralizing these errant oxygen molecules, saving our cells from undue damage.
Watermelon is virtually fat free and contains no cholesterol. It also contains a substance called citrulline, which helps maintain good blood flow and helps with overall cardiovascular function.
This recipe combines succulent pieces of this tasty and nutritious fruit with fragrant herbs and some hot pepper in a lovely salad, dressed in a ginger-lime dressing. There is nothing wrong with a simple piece of cut watermelon, but if you want to fancy it up a bit, this salad might be just what you are looking for. It would be perfect for an upcoming July 4 picnic, and it would also work well as part of a light lunch or a celebratory brunch. Megan Murphy is a Tennesseelicensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call 277-3062, fax 529-2787, e-mail Meganmyrd@aol.com.