With the blazing sun and warm air, summer in Ontario can feel tropical. That’s just the right combination for growing melons. Rose Reisman helped Susan Hay take locally grown cantaloupes from the farm to your plate with this week’s Simply Delicious. Here’s the sweet concoction they tried:
Cantaloupe frozen yogourt smoothie
Recipe by Rose Reisman
2 cups vanilla frozen yogourt
4 cups cantaloupe
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1. Process until smooth.
Cantaloupes originated in Europe, and are named for the villa Cantaloupo near Rome in Italy. They’re a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and folate. Per 1 medium wedge (1/8 melon) there are 69g: 23 calories, 1,394 mcg vitamin A, 25 mg vitamin C, 184 mg potassium, 14 mcg folate.
Just how do you know a cantaloupe is ready for eating? Chase Magalas from Magalas Produce in Waterford, Ontario says “you can see the nice netting on the side. When that’s on the melon, you know it’s nice, and the yellow tint to it really means that it’s ripe.”
Southern Ontario is a prime growing area for these melons, where the summers are typically long and hot. Growing Ontario Cantaloupes means a lot to this farmer. Chase told us “when i was a kid, fun was coming to the field and picking melons. It’s nice to hear when people say that local produce is important to them because I feel no more pride than when I go to a store, and I see a box with my name on it.”
Comments