Watermelon Balsamic Salad

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Gluten-Free/Nut-Free/Dairy-Free Option/Vegan Option

Skill Level: Beginner

Yield: 4 side dish servings or 2 main dish servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Equipment Needed:

• Chef's knife

• Cutting board

• Salad spinner (optional)

• Medium mixing bowl

• Tongs

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 ounces your choice of greens (I used a mix of rainbow and spicy microgreens that I had been growing on my deck)

• 6 mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade

• 1/2 cup watermelon, cut into a small or medium dice

• 1/3 cup feta cheese, preferably crumbled from a block (optional)

• 3-4 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

The Recipe:

1. If using unwashed greens, wash and spin dry in a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a medium bowl, add the greens, mint and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette. Using a tongs, toss gently to combine.

3. Arrange dressed greens on a serving platter.

4. Add diced watermelon and feta cheese (if using) on top of the salad.

5. Drizzle with an additional1-2 tablespoons dressing.

To Serve: This salad would be great alongside pretty much any protein such as grilled chicken or salmon. You could also serve it as a main dish and if you felt like it needed a little morel, add some poached, shredded chicken to the salad in step 2 or add a nice loaf of crusty bread on the side.

Adjusting for your diet: If you are on a vegan or dairy-free diet, you can omit the feta cheese all together, or you could substitute a vegan feta cheese such as Follow Your Heart Dairy-Free Feta Crumbles.

Tips:

• A few ideas for greens that come to mind that would go well in this salad are baby spinach, spring mix, arugula or a mix of any of these.

• If you hate the idea of mint you could omit it, but I thought it gave a really interesting pop of flavor to this summer salad. You could also experiment using more or less mint leaves according to your taste preference.

• If you're able, I highly suggest buying the block of feta over the crumbles; I think it tastes fresher. If you hate feta cheese you could substitute in another cheese such as goat or bleu, but I loved the contrast of the salty, tangy feta with the sweet melon and spicy/crisp greens. If you are using a block of feta, use a fork to pull the crumbles off.

• I used 2 ounces of greens but if you wanted to make this a main-dish salad you may want to use a little more.

• With any salad you want to be sure you don't overdress it, so it's a good idea to start small when adding the dressing and add more if you think it's necessary. What you don't want is to end up with a big pool of dressing at the bottom of your bowl that some of your greens are drowning in.

• Another note on dressing green salads, if you are bringing your salad to a picnic or aren't planning to serve it right away, wait to dress it until just before serving to maintain the crispness of your other ingredients.

The Story:

I went to Wal Mart to get the kids some bubbles a couple months ago, and on a whim I grabbed a couple of seed packets from a display: spinach, rainbow microgreens and spicy microgreens. I decided to throw them in the garden box my husband made me a few years ago instead of planting that with herbs like I normally do, which was a bit of a gamble because if nothing grew then that box would look pretty sad and empty.

Taa-daa!

But they did grow! Super healthily and easily, too. Highly recommend growing your own if you have the space. I've been sneaking a leaf when I go out to the deck to enjoy the silence after the kids go to bed (love you guys...) but was almost scared to use them because they were just so beautiful and fresh-tasting; I wanted to do something kind of special.

Freshly plucked

Yesterday after I put up my post on cutting up a watermelon, I got inspired at the thought of combining the greens with this delicious, juicy summer fruit. I'd never made a watermelon salad before, but I had seen recipes that combined flavors like watermelon, mint and feta cheese.

Post-rinse

I adore a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, so this seemed like a natural choice to dress my creation. I had everything I needed except the feta, which I commissioned my husband to grab on his way home from getting his Vrbo ready to turn.

I love using a block of feta vs. the pre-crumbled version.

I have to say, this is one of the best salads I've had in a long time. Fresh, crisp greens, tart balsamic vinaigrette, sweet watermelon and mint, and tangy, salty feta; just a really nice balance throughout. We enjoyed this salad as a little happy hour appetizer since we knew we would be eating dinner kind of late (I think the split was more 75/25 in my favor, but who's counting...) but I think you could make it a meal if you added some nice crusty bread on the side.

Happy tasting!