Receta Summer... Salad Style
Heirloom Tomato Watermelon Salad
Everything about this salad screams summer, hence the name: 'Summer... Salad Style'. I actually had big plans for dinner last night. Big plans. I was so excited to try out my new 'idea', I had all the ingredients and I just knew it was going to be epic. An epic meal and therefore, an epic post.
And then I Skyped with my (I'm still going to call her this even though she isn't anymore) nanny. Not MY nanny; I'm basically an adult; my son's nanny. Or, I guess, his old nanny. Because THAT would be quite a commute; she recently moved to Texas and no, from Texas back up to Washington State probably wouldn't be worth the pay.
Anyway, she was his nanny from basically birth and in that time we also became friends; she's like my little sister. And in true sister fashion, when I was a single parent she was the one I came home to so she was the one that often stayed for wine :)
So now that she's far far away we do the Skype thing, which Noodle thinks is SO cool. But all plans of productivity are usually out the window because Skype for us can be 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours; this was a good one so dreams of my awesomely epic meal were out the window. My point is that I'll make it tonight if this migraine goes away and then you will be able to see the amazingness... unless it turns out horrible; then I'm going to have to post about cold cereal and/or raw veggies. Possibly together.
This salad, the summer salad, that I will actually get to was made a couple weekends ago while we were at the beach house. As I said, everything about it screams summertime to me; especially because the majority of its contents were items purchased at the Bellingham Farmer's Market. One of my favorite summertime places! The salad is so fresh and sweet it's a great salad to pair with any of your grilling concoctions or other salads.... at a potluck :)
Need:
- 1 small watermelon, cut into bite size chunks
- 5-6 med heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite size chunks (or you could do 2 containers of the little ones, cut in half)
- 1 red onion, sliced into thin strips
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- For the dressing:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 3 Tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
- 1 small clove garlic, smashed
- Salt and pepper
Do:
In a dressing mixer, or my favorite, a Kerr or Ball jar, combine all ingredients for the dressing, cover and shake really well. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the watermelon chunks, heirloom tomatoes and red onion.
Give your dressing another good shake and pour SOME onto your salad. Top with half of the cilantro and give the whole thing a light toss. Note: don't toss too much because you don't want to crush the watermelon, etc...
If it looks like enough dressing, great! If not, pour more of your dressing on. I always like to start with a little; you can always add more but it sure is a pain in the b to 'fix' the terrible 'too much dressing' dilemma.
Top with the rest of your cilantro and you are ready to serve!
Serve:
Note: we, in true potluck fashion, didn't plate our food, we just had it out in bowls. Apologies for not 'staging' the salad fantastically... IF you are going to plate the salad, save the cilantro to top onto each plated portion.
Enjoy!
Watermelon