The Sunny Palate

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How to Trim and Dice a Watermelon

The bigger the fruit or vegetable, the more intimidating it is to cut.  There’s a reason why you always see fresh, trimmed watermelon and pineapple chunks for sale in the produce section.  Yes, it’s easy and convenient, but it’s so much cheaper to just cut your own.  As a bonus, you will have watermelon for days….watermelon margaritas, anyone?

Step 1:  Hold the watermelon steady with one hand, and using a very sharp or serrated knife, slice off the top and bottom of the melon with the other, just enough to show the color inside. Sit the melon upright on one of the flat surfaces to keep it steady and to prevent any mishaps.

Step 2:  Using a sawing motion, follow the curve of the melon and cut a strip of the rind off the melon.  Rotate and continue cutting off strips, working your way around the entire melon. 

Step 3:  Slice off a few discs at a time, and stack them up with the widest one on the bottom.

Step 4:  Cut the pile into long strips, evenly spaced.

Step 5:  Turn the pile so that the strips now face sideways, and position your knife perpendicular to those strips.   Slice through the strips at the same width, creating cubes.

Tip:  You can adjust the size of the dice by increasing or decreasing the size of your cuts, starting with the discs and ending with the dice.