The FTW Salad (Feta Tomato & Watermelon)

1. The FTW Salad (Feta Tomato & Watermelon)

   September 15, 2017

   Servings: 8

   Prep: 20 min

   Total: 20 min

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   This salad is a BBQ stunner! You can't go wrong with this on a warm summer night... or any time of the year you need your watermelon fix.

   By: A Wholesome New World

   

   Ingredients

   • Salad:
   • 2 Heirloom tomatoes
   • 1 lb watermelon cut into bite size chunks
   • 1 cucumber, sliced into 1/4 inch slices, then halved (half moons)
   • Himalayan Pink Sea Salt (or any sea salt)
   • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
   • 1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
   • 1/4 cup black oil-cured olives, chopped coarsely
   • Basil leaves, torn roughly
   • Dressing:
   • 1/4 tsp lemon zest
   • 1 TBSP lemon juice fresh squeezed
   • 3 tsp honey
   • 1 tsp Dijon
   • 1/4 tsp sea salt
   • 4 TBSP olive oil

   Directions

   • Step 1 “Artfully” arrange heirloom tomatoes and watermelon across a platter. I tried to make this all symmetrical at first but then decided it looked too staged, so I re-scattered my tomato and watermelon pieces into a more haphazard fashion and it looked a lot more natural!
   • Step 2 Top the bed of tomatoes and watermelon with the cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices and sprinkle with flavored sea salt. Add the black olives.
   • Step 3 Prepare the dressing: Whisk together the first 5 ingredients under the Dressing heading until smooth and no clumps remain. In a steady stream, add olive oil slowly whisking as you add. Season with black pepper to taste.
   • Step 4 Both the dressing and salad can be chilled before serving.
   • Step 5 Immediately before serving, scatter the salad with Feta cheese and then drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Watermelon is one of those fruits that has always seemed to be assigned a “season” – the image of this succulent pink fruit with its contrasting black seeds immediately conjures up images of your annual July 4th BBQ, lazy afternoons on the beach, or scorching hot days running through the sprinklers as a kid. I would go so far as to say that watermelon is considered the white pants of fruit. You rarely see it on menus outside of the summer season, it’s long forgotten after Labor Day and won’t appear until school’s out once again and the temperatures start rising.

I’d like to challenge you to embrace watermelon in the off season and this is one of those salads that’s so darn addicting that maybe it will encourage you to do so! Marc isn’t usually a huge fan of watermelon’s texture, but even he devoured this salad! I admit, we served it at a dinner party it in September, so yes, technically still summer – but for argument’s sake, it was a chilly night! But, it will definitely be making a repeat appearance at dinners to come. This sweet & salty salad has got all the goods.

My “artful” arrangement:

Smooth, silky dressing:

Time to dig in!