Melon is great all by itself, but it's even better when you add it to your meals. Personally, I have a hard time not digging right into them with a spoon, but when I wait, I never regret it. Alone, cantaloupe is juicy and refreshing—an excellent snack—but when you slice it up and wrap it in prosciutto, it suddenly becomes a restaurant-quality appetizer. When you toss honeydew in the blender with some spices (and maybe some vegetables), you have a cool summer soup that you didn't even have to turn your stove on to make. With a little patience, your melon can go from just a fruit to almost any meal you could possibly want.
As tempting as it might be to eat your melon plain, consider turning it into one of these 17 excellent recipes instead. There are ideas here for all the most common kinds of melon you'll see at the supermarket (you can find out how to pick the best one here) and they include a wide array of drinks, salads, soups, smoothies, and even pizza—bet you didn't know a melon could do that.
