As Seen on Tv.

Sweet & Savory., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

So, a few weeks ago I was having dinner out at my mothers house, we were curled up in her bed eating nachos and watching the Food Network (what else?). Giada was on one of her tasty travels to New York. She sampled these delicate brightly colored watermelon and grape (or cherry, I'm not sure) tomatoes lightly seasoned with olive oil, balsamic, and a touch of s&p skewered. I'd never seen anything quite like it. Considering I've just began to warm up to watermelon, I was on the fence about what I was seeing on tv. My mother on the other hand seemed intrigued, seeing as she likes both ingredients I thought this recipe might really appeal to most people. As Giada put it "they're light and simple". They're also really bright, colorful, beautiful, and impressive looking.

Oddly enough, when Laurens birthday rolled around I had half a HUGE watermelon sitting in the fridge, and nothing to do with it. Seeing as really good organic sweet tomatoes are cheap this time of year, I figured I would go for it and try my hand at recreating what I'd seen on tv.

It was a success. They are light, refreshing, colorful, and simple with a nice flavor complexity. Sweet, savory, tangy, and even a bit bitter. Really good. Even for a girl on the fence about watermelon. An added bonus, they looked really stunning. All lined up like little soldiers on a rectangular white plate, they can't be missed, it looks like something right out of a fancy gourmet magazine. But it's so easy to pull together, and the perfect summer appie. OH, and did I mention, they're really REALLY healthy?! Score. For me this means what I don't eat in appetizer calories, I can make up for by drinking an extra glass (or two) of french wine.

Recipe: Tamelon Skewers (Tomato Melon Skewers)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cubed watermelon (about one inch cubes)
1/2 cup halved little sweet tomatoes
1 TBLS reduced balsamic
1 TBLS good olive oil
dash of sea salt
dash of pepper

Directions:

1. Place a cube on watermelon on a toothpick.
2. Place a halved tomato (cut side up) on top of your cube of watermelon.
3. Repeat steps 1-2 until all watermelon and tomato are gone.
4. Assemble on a crisp white (or other cool) plate.
5. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and balsamic.
6. Season with s&p.
7. Eat.

I can't go on about these enough. I just loved how cool they looked, and cool they tasted. Ah.May.Zing. Yay for summer, and birthdays!