Watermelon-Lime Granita

So as I've written about quite a bit, a big part of what I'm doing these days is trying to eat foods that are less processed. This one really does fit the bill. I also mentioned earlier this week that I'd like to cut down on the Mr. Freeze addiction... Well, I did cut down, but could do better, and I could see this being a really refreshing replacement. What is Granita, you ask? Basically, think of the homemade version of a Slurpie or Slush, depending on where you live I guess, only less liquidy. I got the recipe from my local grocery store.  So here we go, Watermelon-Lime Granita.

For the heck of it, here's a crazy watermelon picture. Don't you think these are strange? Apparently they are just grown in boxes or something like that, and were invented because Japanese grocery stores didn't have room for the space-wasting regular old watermelons. You can read all about it here, which is where I got this great pic. Fascinating. Anyway, enjoy!



 Ingredients:

• 1 lb seedless watermelon
• 1 tbsp clear corn syrup ( I had clear - for the amount used, no big deal)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/3 cup water

I had a watermelon that we cut into earlier in the week. It wasn't the best, which inspired me to find a recipe. My 3/4 of a watermelon turned out to be just about 4 lbs, so I multiplied everything by 4.

So first, whizz up the cut up watermelon in the food processor or blender 'til it's nice and smooth.

Strain out the watermelon juice. Lately, what with it being cocktail season and all, I've been playing around with different watermelon drinks, and I always find they have this weird frothiness to them. I really think this step could be the key to perfecting whatever it is you are putting together with watermelon, because this dessert doesn't have that weird texture to it at all. I ended up with tons of pulp in the strainer. Shocking!

Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Pour it into a square or rectangular dish. Stick it in the freezer.

Every 30 minutes or so, drag the fork along the watermelon mixture, kind of like raking. This keeps it from being one big chunk of watermelon ice. This was about half way through.

So I forgot to take a snap of the Granita in a serving bowl. But here's the fancy close up I took! A link-party worthy pic, no doubt! The process took several ours. I put this together before lunch, and by the time we were ready to have some after dinner, it was mostly frozen, but not completely. The next morning, it was pretty solid, and so I left it out for about a half an hour, and at that point, I was able to stir / bash it up into what it was supposed to be.

Some suggestions:

• I certainly think this could become an alcoholic beverage. When we ate it for dessert, I drizzled it with watermelon rum, but it was too strong. I think I would possibly try straight rum and maybe some 7up. Fresh mint or basil would go really well with this in drink or dessert form.
• It is a good idea to taste the mixture before it freezes. You may want a little more lime or corn syrup, depending how good your watermelon is. 
• Conclusion: Very refreshing, low calorie and minimally processed, tasty dessert. Would for sure do it again, especially for a party. If you really wanted to be healthy, I'm sure you could substitute some agave nectar or honey for the corn syrup. Think about how economical this is too.

Enjoy!