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Standing Walrus

Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa

Salsas are easy to make and really go perfectly with a nice summer meal. In this case, I served it with a Grilled, and Jerked Whole Chicken, and Jerked, Citrus Rice.

I started off knowing that I would be making the chicken, it was all about boning it. I figured that we're grillin', and that a good companion would be a nice summer salsa that carried over the Jerked flavors from the chicken and the rice. It went well, and the flavors of everything complimented everything else

My original plan was to use a pineapple, but I couldn't find one. That's when I "punted" and decided on the cantaloupe. The big rule here is to not be too structured by a recipe, but to use a recipe as a guide. I could easily have substituted a couple of mangos, but the cantaloupe worked well, and I haven't used it in a salsa in a long time.

I was staying at my Son's (Critter) house and serving him and my Daughter-in-law (Kate). Now my son LOVES the heat, but Kate has a difficult time with anything too hot, so I figured that I would leave the Serrano Pepper out of this mix. The pepper would have added just a little heat and would probably be fine for most people.



  • 1/2 Large Cantaloupe
  • 1/4 Large Red Onion
  • 1/2 Large Red Bell Pepper
  • 1 Medium Lime, zest and juice
  • Honey or Maple Syrup, as needed
  • 1 Teaspoon Butt Kickin' Blacken, Jamaican Jerk
  • 1 Large Serrano Pepper, minced, optional

1. Any fresh salsa that you make is really better if made the day before you want to serve it. It gives the flavors a chance to blend.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


2. Peal the cantaloupe by first trimming the 2 ends.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


3. Next, stand it upright and use a knife to remove the skin.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


4. Cut 1/4" slices from the side of the cantaloupe. Slice these into strips, then dice the strips.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


5. Mince the onion (real small), then soak them in ice water.

Ron's Note:
Soaking the onions removes a lot of the sharp bite. They'll end up with just a mild onion flavor.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


6. Dice the red bell pepper. This is when you can add the minced serrano pepper, if you're using it.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


7. Zest the lime. I use a micro plane turned upside down for any zesting. The ridges of the micro plane keep the zest from going all over the place.
Jerked Cantaloupe Salsa, Picture


8. I used to have a lot of problems getting juice out of a lime. Using this inexpensive juicer has saved me a lot of greif.

9. Mix all of this together, add the Jamaican Jerk seasoning, and taste it. In this case, the cantaloupe wasn't very sweet, so I added a little bit of honey to the mix.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this recipe, or any other of my recipes you've either looked at or tried.
  1. Whether or not you like this recipe and why.
  2. How you'd like to see it different.
  3. Suggestions for new recipes I could post.
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thecapn@capnrons.com