Saturday, August 9, 2014

Watermelon Marinade/BBQ Sauce and Meatball Kabobs

This Watermelon BBQ Sauce has been on the to-do list for a while now and it was a perfect day to fire up the grill! It is a very tangy, puckery and yes I'm going to say it... spicy sauce. I looked at the amount of red pepper flakes pretty hard but decided to follow directions the first time. The recipe as written is very thin and this Yankee considers it a marinade, I added a little cornstarch to the extra sauce and cooked it to thicken it up. Brush the thick sauce on during the last minute or two of grilling and serve it at the table for dipping. I used store bought meatballs and wanted to suggest two serving options: 1. How fun to add meatballs to a kabob-something we don't usually think of and 2. As a perfect party appy-break out the food picks folks, football season is here! 
 The site tells you how to make watermelon juice, 
I just ran some watermelon through the food chopper and used that.
Bella was the perfect size for four kabobs and a half batch of sauce... 
 I think this tasty and very different BBQ sauce would be good with chicken, turkey and pork too.
In case you're curious, the watermelon was great with a little charcoal smoky flavor on it:@)

Watermelon Marinade/BBQ Sauce-from National Watermelon Promotion Board
1/2 C watermelon juice
1/2 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
2 Tblsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes-don't hesitate to cut back on this amount
Optional-add a little cornstarch to the leftover sauce to thicken it in a small sauce pan.
  1. Mix everything well-how easy is that!
  2. Pour some over meat and veggies, marinate a couple hours or overnight.
  3. Baste with remaining sauce as the food is grilling. You might want to divide the sauce in half so you can use some for basting and serve some at the table
Eat well and have a happy day:@)