There has been a recent debate going on lately in various vegan circles, all focused on which is healthier, traditional cucumber pickles, or delicious watermelon rind pickles. The consensus seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of watermelon rind pickles being the healthiest choice. As many of you might already know, watermelon rind is healthier than the watermelon flesh itself, as it is jam packed with tons of vitamins and minerals. Cucumbers although fibrous and containing some nutrients, don't even come close to matching the nutrition power of watermelon rind. So with that answer given, the next question is how to pickle watermelon rind, without allowing all of those nutrients to escape the fruit during the canning process. Can this be done while minimizing the amount of nutrient loss, especially during the boiling process? The answer is yes, as we will show you below.
Recent studies have shown that any form of pickling will naturally incur nutrient loss in whatever food source you are using, however a large percentage of the nutrients do remain. With regard to watermelon rind, a general canning process has been show to incur a 50% nutrient loss, more if the watermelon rind is over boiled. One method found to help the fruit retain it's nutrition, is to make sure it's boiled to transparency, however not boiled enough that is loses it rigidness. If the watermelon rind is still crunchy even after pickling, chances are it has retained many more vitamins and minerals than boiling it to the point that it becomes soft and chewy. In fact if you really go overboard in boiling it, then in some cases it will only retain dietary fiber, which is obviously healthy, but it won't be nutritious.
There are many ways to prepare watermelon rind, so if you are seeking something that tastes great, then obviously prepare it regardless of nutritional factors. Not all food is consumed for nutrition's sake, the simple fact is a lot of food is consumed purely for pleasure. Our watermelon rind candy recipe will likely only contain fiber and a small percentage of nutrients, however we highly recommend it, as eating it is an extremely enjoyable experience. If you are seeking to eat watermelon rind purely for health reasons, then try and eat it raw uncooked, and if that won't suffice, then use it in a salad. We have many watermelon rind based recipes to choose from, and it is not hard to tell which ones will provide your body with the highest amount of nutrition. If you have any questions at all about any of the recipes, then please send us an email.
Although recent scientific studies have show just how healthy watermelon rind is for you, the practice of utilizing it as a food source has been occurring for hundreds of years. It is commonly thought that Greek Americans were the first to introduce the country to pickled watermelon rind, having been doing it for centuries. It makes sense, as watermelon rind fits perfectly into many Greek and Mediterranean recipes. Even raw, rind will fit nicely into a traditional Greek salad, just top it off with a little garlic, feta cheese, and some extra virgin olive oil. To find many different watermelon rind based recipes, please search through the left navigation bar on every page of our website. There you will find a long list of recipes that can be followed, or you can use them simply to provoke new ideas of how to prepare watermelon rind, this amazing and often overlooked health food. If you have never had watermelon rind, then you are really missing out.
