It seems that popsicles are all the rage these days. Not the freeze pops I slurped in my youth - ones with unusual ingredients and cosmo-popsicle sounding names. Would you like a blue freeze pop or a blueberry pancake popsicle? Um, that's a no brainer. How about something called paletas? Ooooh a paleta, please.
Paletas are Mexican popsicles made with chunks of fresh fruit. I made my paletas with watermelon and pickled jalapeño. I started with a half of watermelon, leftover from a cookout. I didn't want it to go to waste so I thought why not give my popsicle molds a whirl?
Make plain jane popsicles? Noooo. I needed something to add to the molds. Something exciting. I opened my fridge and looked around. Parmesan and watermelon popsicles? No thank you. Mustard and watermelon popsicles? Trying to quit, so, no thanks. Capers and watermelon? Closer, but not really.
Then I came across a half eaten jar of pickled jalapeños! Perfect.
These paletas are sweet, with occasional bursts of tart, spicy fireworks. Just enough pow! to make them interesting. Clearly these are not intended for children. The opposite, in fact. There are quite a few left in my fridge and I'm considering turning them into vodka based drinks the next time I have company.
Ingredients
Watermelon (about half a medium sized watermelon)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup jalapeño
Directions
- Slice up the watermelon, removing the pink flesh from the rind (Josie's favorite part).
- Add watermelon and sugar to food processor. Process on high until watermelon is liquid.
- Pour into popsicle molds and then add about 2 tablespoons of pickled jalapeños to each pop.
