Just Call Me A Sheep: Watermelon & Cucumber Salad with Feta

Has everyone else noticed the savory watermelon salads popping up everywhere on the internet? It seems to be the hot summer foodie trend. And I am not normally a trend follower (just ask my sister about my sense of fashion, haha) but this was one bandwagon I had to hop on.

I have seen them dressed with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and white wine vinegars. I decided on a white balsamic; lemon juice was out for me since I only had one half of a lemon, and I thought the lighter vinegar sounded better with the cucumber and feta cheese (although honestly I would love to try regular balsamic also). I added some purple basil from my garden and thinly sliced red onion for the heck of it and a sprinkle of salt and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil later we were set.

It was delicious.

My eldest daughter scarfed it up instantly, requesting seconds. John conceded he “might have been wrong” when he told me I was crazy for suggesting we try a savory watermelon dish. I am now eager to try more variations on this–for example, I would like to try a lemon juice dressing. I am curious about other crumbly cheeses–like French feta, goat cheese or queso fresco. I have also seen it grilled first–although to do that I would need to un-bury my grill-yikes.

I actually never used to like watermelon much (much to the rest of my family’s disgust) as I find it almost too sweet, but this new perspective on watermelon has me totally rethinking my position.