My secret cooking talent

I have long prided myself on the fact that one of my greatest talents in the kitchen is cutting fruit. Weird, but true. The way in which food is cut can have a detrimental effect on your eating experience. Have you ever eaten a sandwich that is not cut properly and such a mess you’re not even actually enjoying it, you’re instead in such a rush to eat it because you fear that if you put it down, it will all fall apart?! Definitely not being dramatic about this.

So in honor of ensuring that your summer melon season is maximized to its absolute fullest potential, here’s my guide to cutting melons:

1. Cut the melon in half along the equator. If you’re cutting a melon that has soupy seeds (i.e. cantaloupe), scoop them out with a spoon. Going half by half, cut off the top of the hill.

2. Using your knife, cut off the rind of the melon. Start at the top, and work down towards the cutting board.

3. Cutting parallel to your cutting board, cut the melon into several discs. The thickness should be bite-sized.

4. Now cutting perpendicular to your cutting board, cut cross-wise to make planks, then the opposite direction to make cubes.

This week’s recipes have absolutely nothing to do with melon, but would be great with a side of melon?!

Baked Farro with Summer Vegetables

The 411: Don’t fret! I’m back in your inbox with another farro recipe. Things Deb Perelman’s recipe is not: a quick, weeknight meal that doesn’t require turning on the oven. Things this recipe is: a delicious showcase of summer vegetables (corn, zucchini, and tomatoes), texturally unique, and cheesy.

Zoe’s Tips: My favorite hack for cutting corn off the cob without getting kernels all over your kitchen is to stand the cob on its bottom at the base of a bowl. Starting at the top of the cob and using a serrated knife, cut downwards, towards the bottom of the bowl.

Taste-to-Time Ratio¹: 8:5

Hearts of Palm Ceviche

The 411: At this point you have likely started to notice a trend here: chips for dinner. I’m not mad about it! Let’s call them a no-cook carb to balance out the veggies? Sylvia Fountaine’s ceviche dupe replaces fish with hearts of palm, and is zuzhed up with cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, avocado and lots of lime. Crack open a bag of chips to scoop the ceviche with, and you’ve got yourself an easy peasy, fresh summer meal.

Zoe’s Tips: There’s a lot of raw veg here, which requires seasoning with more salt than you might expect. My mom took a cooking class once and they told her that you want enough salt to bring out the flavors of the ingredients, but not too much so that it tastes like salt. Taste as you go, and don’t be wary of adding more salt.

Taste-to-Time Ratio: 7:9

1. The Taste-to-Time Ratio is a ratio that evaluates flavor on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) with time on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the fastest). For example, our family favorite mac and cheese that requires 2 types of cheese, toasted baguette breadcrumbs, approximately all your kitchen pans, and 2 hours of baking is a 10:3 - insanely delicious, but not a quick weeknight meal.