Moo's Gingered Melon Balls

Let the quality and ripeness of the melon in your supermarket dictate what melon you choose. They're all good. Enjoy a palate pleaser.

6 cups melon balls
3 T honey
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Garnish with mint leaves and a little more chopped crystallized ginger.


Combine the melon balls with honey and crystallized ginger. Spoon fruit into a large glass compote or serving dish. Cover and chill until you're ready to serve. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and a little chopped crystallized ginger.

Moo's Favorite Green Chili Salsa

Salsa is a wonderful condiment and dip. Most recipes are fast and easy to make and so much better than anything you can buy. Moo liked to collect, invent and reinvent salsas. As a result I have a lot of recipes to offer in this category. I'll be sharing many of her palate pleasing salsas with upcoming posts.

6 tomatillos, husks discarded and fruit quartered
1 T Olive oil
5 green chile peppers, I like to roast and peel
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and cut into large chunks
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1/2 to 1 t. salt (to taste)
1 cup sour cream
1 t. fresh lime juice

Place husked and quartered tomatillos in a skillet with olive oil and cook over low heat until softened (3-4 minutes). Transfer tomatillos to food processor. Add chilies, garlic and avocado. Blend until smooth. Add sour cream, cilantro and salt. Puree until smooth.

Moo's Coconut-Coriander Chutney

If you like chutney, you'll love this. Who'd have thought making a palate pleasing chutney would be so easy.

1 bunch coriander
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 fresh or canned chili (if fresh, you'll need to roast and peel off skin)
1 cup coconut
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
1/4 cup water

Trim leaves from coriander stalks and put them into blender with remaining ingredients. Blend and pour into serving bowl. You can make ahead and refrigerate, but I think it tastes best at room temperature.