Honeydew

To go with grilled scallops, Marcia Kiesel creates her own version of salsa verde by combining sweet honeydew and buttery avocado in a fruit salsa (yes, avocado is a fruit). The salsa is what wine geeks call "round in flavor," meaning it's not too tart or tangy, and it would be excellent with an equally "round" oaked California Chardonnay.

Food & Wine's Kay Chun riffs on a classic margarita here, combining white tequila and fresh lime juice with chunks of frozen honeydew melon and a quick, brightly flavored sweet basil puree. While you can make the sweet basil puree ahead of time, it's always best to squeeze the lime juice right before blending the drink, so it retains its fresh flavor.

"I like to karate-chop diners with something different at the end of the meal," Michael Solomonov says. He does that with this cool dessert of rose-scented rhubarb and honeydew melon granita topped with creamy lebneh (a soft, yogurt-like fresh cheese) and crunchy candied pistachios.

The key to this dish is the rich Vietnamese-inspired dark caramel. "A little bitterness in the caramel makes it more complex," Andrea Reusing says. "I often tell home cooks to take the caramel as far as they think they can, then pull it off the heat and let stand for a minute before adding the other ingredients."

Derek Brown sweetens this Riesling-based punch with honey syrup. Keeping it cool are frozen melon balls, which are fun to eat once they start to thaw.

This tangy, sweet and supereasy fresh melon granita has only five ingredients.

Chef Andy Glover of Mission Estate Winery used smoked pork, but prosciutto is also tasty.

Mixing honeydew juice with the fizzy Italian wine Moscato makes a super-refreshing cocktail. Melon balls and chewy tapioca pearls are fun to eat and cute to look at.