Watermelon & Feta Salad

I don’t know what the temperature is like where you are, dear reader, but here (and, as it happens, in the places I’ve traveled in the last week) it is SWELTERING. I know it’s almost summer, but I thought we’d get at least a little more spring! Not that I’m complaining, exactly…also not trying to start every post off talking about the weather. Let’s try again.

Since it has been so hot, I haven’t wanted to spend a ton of time around heating elements in the kitchen. This has led me to produce items like a no-bake key lime pie (recipe next week!), mojitos, caipirinhas, and my personal favorite: going-out-for-sushi. It was time to get back in the swing of things, though, and thus alongside my harissa-smeared ravioli with olives & feta (a similar recipe can be found here), I whipped up this little number.

This salad is fresh, light, easy, flavorful, and beautiful to boot. Not much else needs to be said about it.   (That doesn’t mean I won’t try to make it more complicated than it needs to be!) Here are a few notes that may aid you on your quest to perfect this incredibly simple dish:

1. It saves a lot of time and effort if you get seedless watermelon, and even more if you get it already sliced, despite the fact that whole, seeded watermelon usually tastes better than unseeded varieties. For this recipe, it’s not going to make a huge difference, but if you’re a purist (I get it), you will have to de-seed your melon yourself. To do so, follow the instructions here (just ignore the ads). This guy really, really loves watermelon!

2. Greek or French Feta? It’s a good question, and one that doesn’t really have a right answer. French feta is deliciously mild and creamy, almost sweet, and much less pungent and dense than its cousin, the Greek variety. Having tried them  both, I think I personally prefer French in this case, but the Greek gives the salad an addictive salty-sweet character and is definitely worth trying. You can never try too much cheese, that’s what I always say.

Ok, enough chattering (almost). If you’ve never thought of adding cheese and herbs to watermelon, I promise you will be pleasantly surprised. Don’t love feta? Try just the mint. Not a mint-lover? Try a squeeze of lime juice, a few cilantro leaves, and some queso fresco. Endlessly variable, unfussy, and incredibly refreshing: the perfect hot-weather salad. (It goes real good with mojitos, too. Just saying.)

Watermelon & Feta Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 cups deseeded watermelon, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ cup crumbled, fresh feta cheese
7 or 8 mint leaves, chopped, plus 1 or 2 whole leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Mix everything together with two spoons (gently!) or use your hands. When all is evenly distributed, garnish with a mint leaf or two, and serve.

{images by carol catherine}