Grilled Watermelon Salsa with Spicy Lime Tortilla Chips

Our weekends seem to be going by in a blur these days. We've been spending a lot of time running all over the place preparing for Steve's move to his brand new office.

On the positive side, I have his credit card number at my diposal because I am in charge of accessory & furniture shopping. {There's a sale on a stainless steel double oven, you say?? I'm there! In my dreams... } ;)

Because of all this running about, we've been very relaxed about doing chores and running errands for our own space, which means that I finally had to stop the madness and play catch up on deep cleaning and grocery shopping yesterday... After an 8 hour day of scouring about a dozen stores for things like shelving, special brackets & screws, and other items that make me want to fall asleep with my eyes open. {Boy, am I excited about buying the pretty stuff.}

Between the errand running for the office and making sure we don't slip into a Hoarders: Buried Alive level of disorganization at home, we were beat by yesterday afternoon. As in, "let's just eat whatever takes the least amount of effort" tired.

Except, when it comes to food, I always seem to be able to dig deep for a little extra energy and chanel my inner Energizer Bunny. {Why I can't do the same for working out, I'll never know.}

And that's how we wound up with Grilled Watermelon Salsa with Spicy Lime Tortilla Chips to snack on.

Truth be told, it didn't take that much more effort than any other dish I might've considered making. The extra step of turning on the grill to char the watermelon slices hardly bothered me because I was intrigued by the thought of it. In the end, it was a nice snack to munch on while we vegged out and wound down from a busy weekend.

I love adding fruit to salsa. The sweet/spicy/savory combo that results is perfect for adding an interesting twist to an otherwise standard snack. Adding watermelon, a staple at many summertime gatherings, is a fun way to incorporate an old standby. This recipe would be great for a party, cookout, or even a night in.

We still have some work ahead of us in the next few weeks as we finish up the office, but it's good to know that no matter how exhausted I am at the end of the day, our meal times won't suffer. ;)

How did you spend your weekend? Did you make anything good {tired or not}?

Grilled Watermelon Salsa with Spicy Lime Tortilla Chips
Adapted from Fine Cooking

5-6 watermelon slices {1/2 inch thick}, enough to make about 2 cups when cut away from rind
Olive oil
Cayenne pepper
Sea salt
1/2 a medium shallot, roughly chopped
1/2 a jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 a cucumber, seeded and roughly chopped
2 medium roma or plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Zest & juice of 1/2 a lime {zest set aside}
8 corn tortillas

Heat grill {or grill pan} to medium-high heat.

Using a Misto oil sprayer or a brush dipped in olive oil, lightly coat watermelon slices {front and back} with oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cayenne to taste.

Place watermelon slices on grill, about 1-2 minute per side until light grill marks are visible. Remove and set aside to cool.

When watermelon is cool enough to handle, cut flesh from rind and cut into chunks.

In the bowl of a blender or food processor, add grilled watermelon, shallot, jalapeno, cucumber, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice.

Pulse until slightly processed and combined, but still chunky.

Pour into a medium bowl and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. {You can eat it right away, too, but the flavors develop when you let them sit and get cold.}

Serve with Spicy Lime Tortilla Chips.


For Tortilla Chips:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a large sheet pan with foil and set aside.

Spray {or brush} front and back of tortillas lightly with olive oil. Cut tortillas into 6 wedges each. Spread out onto sheet pan {try not to stack so each gets crispy}. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden.

In a small bowl combine about 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt with about 1 teaspoon lime zest and 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Rub together with fingers to infuse salt with lime oils. Set aside.

When tortilla chips are done, remove from oven and sprinkle with spicy lime salt.

Spring Cleaning

Saturday afternoon I spent forever some time sitting cross-legged in my garage going through boxes that I've been putting off sorting through for years. {Check out TKP's Facebook page to see a picture of how I lured the husband into helping...}

Organizing and spring cleaning takes me forever and a day because I tend to start reminiscing as I go through each piece. {Not to mention, it starts to bring out hoarding tendencies that I never even knew I had.}

So, after hours of sifting through "vintage finds", I called it a day and retreated to the comfort of my couch where I rewarded myself with browsing hundreds of posts that have been accumulating in my Google Reader, and pinning about a bajillion things that I'm dying to try.

Oddly enough, the recipe I'm sharing with you isn't one of those, but rather, it's inspired by one I found in an old {Circa 2001} Weight Watchers magazine I found in a box that hadn't been opened for about 7 years.

Guess all that sifting was worth it after all.

This particular magazine was not exactly filled with gems {I'm not a huge fan of recipes that start with "Open 1 bag of instant mashed potatoes."...}, but I did flip through and find a few recipes that looked interesting or could be modified to fit my personal meal ideals.

This recipe was originally "Bean-Goat Cheese Tostadas with Tomato Mango Salsa". But guess what? The hubs and I spend our Sunday kayaking in the gorgeous sunshine instead of tending to errands such as grocery shopping, so we didn't have a mango on hand. We did, however, have some nectarines that have been hanging around waiting to be used or eaten... problem solved.

So, I present to you... Pinto Bean & Goat Cheese Tostadas topped with Nectarine Salsa. An eclectic combo, I know, but fantastically good!

Don't be scared, that's just a nectarine!

If garage cleaning can inspire such yummy things, I may just have to start doing it more often. :)

Pinto Bean & Goat Cheese Tostadas
Inspired by Weight Watchers Magazine - Down to Earth

5-6 corn tortillas
non-stick cooking spray
1 can pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 lime {juice divided}
goat cheese {or, if you're not a fan, your favorite crumbly cheese. Queso fresco maybe?}


Nectarine Salsa

1-2 nectarines, pitted & diced
2 small plum tomatoes, diced
1/4 {approx}of a white onion, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon honey
juice from half a lime
sea salt

For Tostadas:

Prehead oven to 350 degrees. On a large sheet pan, spread out corn tortillas so that they are not overlapping. Give them a light spray with cooking spray, or alternately, bruch lightly with a coat of olive oil. Bake until lightly golden and edges begin to get wavy, 10-12 minutes. {But keep an eye on them just in case.} Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. {They'll get crunchier during this time.}

Meanwhile, place rinsed pinto beans in a medium bowl. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, and the juice from half a lime. Mash with a fork until desired consistency is reached. Set aside.

For Salsa:

In another bowl, combine diced nectarine, tomatoes, white onion, cilantro, honey, a sprinkle of sea salt and juice from the remaining half of a lime. Combine well.

To assemble:

Spread a few tablespoons of pinto bean mixture onto each tostada. {You may want to heat up the beans for a minute in the microwave if you prefer them warm.} Top with nectarine salsa, and sprinkle with goat cheese.

Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.