A recipe of sorts... Watermelon and feta salad with lime and mint
Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith
A small bowl with pieces of watermelon and feta inside, shot from above
You know, cooking doesn’t have to be complicated, or difficult – it can be as simple as throwing a few beautiful ingredients together and ta-dah… you’ve got something gorgeous to eat, an impressive salad for the reluctant cook, in a matter of minutes. That’s certainly the case with this dish where most of your time will go on chopping things up!
I was inspired to try this after seeing Heidi post about a watermelon, mint and lime salad on Instagram. I’m not sure why but that got my attention, something about the combination of those three flavours and so a couple of weeks later I set about making a version. I couldn’t remember exactly what the salad I’d seen was, and why I was so taken with it and rather than going back and checking (wouldn’t that have been the sensible thing) I came up with something else entirely.
It’s the 1st September today, officially Autumn, summer is over they say. But to my mind, summer hasn’t started yet! And I’m definitely not ready to say bye to it. So, here’s to eating summer, even if the weather isn’t quite playing ball.
Ingredients
A piece of watermelon (size dependent on number you want to feed)
A block of feta (again, how much you use will depend on how big a salad you’re making)
A handful of fresh mint leaves
Juice of ½ to 1 lime
A scant handful of sunflower or pumpkin seeds (optional but I like the added crunch)
Extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Method
If using seeds, toast them slightly by placing in a heavy bottomed frying pan that has been heated over a medium heat. Stir the seeds, or toss, every few seconds until they begin to brown and give off a nutty smell (this will take a few minutes), remove from the heat and leave to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Cut your watermelon and feta into cubes.
Roughly chop your mint, leaving a few leaves to garnish, if you wish.
Throw (or just put) the watermelon and feta into a bowl, squeeze over the lime juice and then stir. Add in the chopped mint and stir again. Finally add a bit of flaked sea salt and a couple of cracks of black pepper and stir again.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, if you wish, and garnish with the toasted seeds (if using).
Serve immediately.
Notes
Experiment with the ratio of watermelon to feta. This can be done by altering the amounts you use or by changing the size of your watermelon versus the feta. You could also try smashing the feta before stirring through the watermelon, perhaps with a drizzle of honey added in. Taste as you go along to see what you like and really create your own dish.
Green bowl with pieces of watermelon and feta in taken from the side with a garden view in the background