Watermelon Summer Salad

Apparently, nobody told the weather that we’re still putting life on hold. It feels like summer is here, whether we’re able to hit bottomless brunch on the beach or not. What we can do is cultivate some of those summer feelings indoors!

This is an experimental recipe. If anything, it’s based on some of my favorite cocktails. But I think it turned out refreshing, delicious, and achieved a delicate balance between sweet and savory!

Simple ingredients

• Half a watermelon
• One cucumber
• 3-4 teaspoons’ worth of crumbly feta cheese
• 8-10 basil leaves
• 3-4 dashes of balsamic vinegar

Fairly simple preparation

• Slice the watermelon into cubes as best you can
• Slice the cucumber into ½ slices
• Put those into a big bowl
• Finely slice the basil and sprinkle it on top
• Add the feta and balsamic vinegar

Very simple finish

• Gently stir
• Optionally sprinkle Tajín on each bite of watermelon. Delicious!

Overall, I think this turned out well. Next time, I would refrigerate the watermelon first — the feta melted more than I would’ve liked and took on an almost yogurt-esque quality, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t quite what I was going for. Bleu cheese would also be worth investigating.

Either way, this was refreshing, tasty, and balanced, and I look forward to making it again with a couple of minor tweaks.