Melon and Prosciutto Antipasto

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

We drove around the Beartooth Highway to celebrate the summer weather. The whole drive took about 9 hours total and half the time, you climb up to an elevation of around 11,000 ft among the most beautiful scenery in Montana and Wyoming. Along the way, we stopped by the town of Columbus to have breakfast at McDonalds. It has been a year since I last ate at the Double Arches so it was high time I paid a visit. Next stop was Red Lodge City. It is one of the bigger cities dotting the road to the Beartooth Highway and we always stop due to a candy store, the Candy Emporium, that we always visit. As always, I had my fill visually but I have managed and I always try to not buy anything when we go to that place. Another surprise that met us was the amount of bikers in town. They have an event with bikers from all over the country much like Sturgis but smaller in scale.

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

The view going up was beautiful as it was early enough in the summer and everything was green. The rivers were swollen due to the spring thaw. At the top, alpine flowers dot the alpine prairie lands coloring the landscape with bursts of yellow, purple and white. Snow still abounds in most of the higher peaks it felt like summer will never quite make its presence felt up there.

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

On the way down, we stopped by a lake to have lunch and take a break from the drive. We packed a simple lunch since we were going to be rushing back to town but I managed to buy a pack of prosciutto at the Red Lodge City which would be a perfect pair for the cantaloupe I packed for a healthy snack. It just goes to show that you can be on the highest peaks and a good lunch is never too hard to pack. This antipasto is quite easy to make since all you need are slices of cantaloupe and thin slices of prosciutto that you drape over them. The saltiness of the ham enhances the sweetness of the fruit and results in a perfect pairing. It is definitely a refreshing appetizer along the banks of an alpine lake on a warm summer day.