I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Nashville is Mas Tacos Por Favor.  I bucked up last week and waited 30 minutes in the roast pork scented lunch line (worth it) for my carnitas tacos and tortilla soup and found them serving up a special summer treat: watermelon agua fresca.  OMG, why aren’t we consuming watermelon in drink form every day!?!? It’s so delicious and refreshing!

The best part?  It’s super easy to make for yourself at home, which is great because blending a drink is the most complex recipe development I can manage at the moment.  I’d write more and try to be wittier but I’m just too dang tired from all this parenting biz and lack of sleep.  In the past month we’ve been through the New Parental Wringer (totally a real thing). We ditched our daycare after a horrific experience and have hired an in-home nanny (originally from Scotland no less, seriously, we hired Mary freakin’ Poppins).  Birds are singing again, bluer skies are on the horizon, and my blood pressure is slowly coming down to a livable rate. So treat yourself, get out your blender, and buzz together this fresca.  You’ll be so glad you did!

Let me leave you with Bob’s Brilliant Watermelon Cutting Tips. My brother Bob shared his special watermelon cutting and storage trick with The Hubs and me, and it’s so smart, it’s not surprising that I saw Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian stealing it using it on Food Network last week. Here are the steps!Step 1. Take watermelon, and cut it in half.  Work with one half at a time. First step, trim off the round end so it’s flat.

Step 2: Put larger, flat, cut side down of first half on your cutting board and begin cutting the rind away from the melon starting at the top and working your way down to the cutting board.

Step 3: Once the rind is removed, leave the watermelon as it is, flat on the board, and follow through with cutting up the watermelon however you like. Bob cuts his in 1″ cross sections so you can take them out and eat them popsicle-style.

Step 4: After you’ve cut the melon, find a bowl that fits overtop of that half.

Place the bowl over top of the melon and flip the whole thing over so the watermelon is now in the bowl.

It should look something like this! Now you are free to enjoy pre-sliced perfect sticks of watermelon at your leisure!

Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge.  Brilliant!

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Prep time: 20 minutes (includes watermelon cutting time)
Serves: 6 four oz glasses

Print This Recipe!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups diced watermelon
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons lime
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 6 good-sized mint leaves
• Ice for serving and mint sprigs for garnish

Method:

1. Place watermelon, water, lime, sugar and 6 mint leaves into blender.  Blend until smooth.
2. Pour blended agua fresca through a fine mesh sieve, filtering out any chunks.
3. Serve over ice in rocks glasses.  Garnish with a sprig of mint.  Vodka optional!