The combination of sweet, juicy watermelon and salty, creamy feta has become a popular summer combo, but where you go from those two ingredients is an interesting question. Do you serve them over greens? Do you add compatible flavors, like additional melon or maybe tomatoes? And how do you dress it?
For this salad, I like a simple format of cubed watermelon and feta with a couple of extra ingredients on the side and an elevated dressing featuring avocado, mint and lots of lime. There are multiple assertive flavors in there, but they don’t squabble. They get along great. This refreshing salad is a nice complement to tangy barbecue, gourmet burgers, tapas and lots more.
Here’s how to make it:
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Watermelon feta salad with lime avocado mint pesto
Serves 4
4 cups cubed watermelon
1 cup cubed feta cheese
Mint leaves, sliced summer tomatoes and avocado for garnish
For the pesto:
Makes about ½ cup
1 cup tightly packed mint leaves, or a combination of mint and basil
1 small ripe avocado
2 tablespoons grated good quality Parmesan cheese
Juice of one lime
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Add all the ingredients but the olive oil to a food processor. Turn on the machine and slowly add the olive oil, stopping to scrape the sides if necessary. Taste and correct with salt if necessary.
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For the salad:
Arrange about 1 cup watermelon and ¼ cup feta on each plate. Add the avocado and tomato. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Add mint leaves for garnish. Serve immediately.
Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and the author of Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey. Visit her at hungryforlouisiana.com.