how to eat like a bird: a watermelon and feta salad

I know what I'm going to eat for the rest of summer. Watermelon and feta sound strange together, but it's a common enough combination in Greece, and variations of the salad keep popping up in sources like the Best American Recipes cookbooks. This Nigella recipe is all over the web, and if you want something fancier or a little more challenging, try Patrick Vaccariello's port wine version with pine nuts and arugula, as told to the Village Voice when asked to describe his last meal on earth.

Not feeling the need to source ingredients in 95 degree weather, I started with Nigella's, and fighting every instinct I had, decided to be flexible. No parsley or black olives. No accounting for measurements. Shallots instead of red onions because that's what I had. I let sliced shallots steep in lime juice for about 20 minutes, and added a dash of extra virgin olive oil, and some sea salt and pepper. Poured that over chunks of watermelon and smaller chunks of Greek feta, and threw some mint on top of that. That was it. My skepticism was gone. It was rather delicious and reminiscent of a Greek salad but about ten times more refreshing, especially because the watermelon was very cold. Something about the feta makes the melon juicier--perhaps because the salt of it draws the water out, right into your mouth. This is perhaps what Harold McGee would say.

I made this another time without the oil, using only watermelon, feta, and lime juice. It wasn't as good. Maybe you don't absolutely need the mint or parsley (although it would be nice if it's not too much of a bother--maybe even Greek basil), but I would say, you do need red onion or shallot, and a little bit of olive oil. I'm quite happy with this for a light lunch. Watermelon is supposed to be one of those foods that make you feel more full per calorie. I'd like to eat this for a late dinner too, especially to romanticize balmy summer nights when you just want to hang out on the porch and do nothing. But in all honesty, I don't have a porch. On those nights, I would just stay in and crank up the air conditioner. Those nights I sometimes disassociate myself so much from the outside environment, that I get a hankering for short ribs. But that would be wrong. This salad is not only tasty, it is more carbon neutral than short ribs. Try it. It'll make you feel good.

Comments

I take issue with your comment that the as asubstitute to sugar
agave does not stand up, in desperation to make my 7 year
old daughter cinammon toast with no sugar around i substituted
agave nectar left in my fridge last summewr by some San fran
yoga buddists. My daughter love the results!!! and she is
quite particular when it comes to home cooking.

Posted by: agave substitute | November 13, 2007 at 08:32 PM

I'll have to give the agave another try in something besides the Raspberry Lime Rickey. I know they use it as a sugar substitute for the cupcakes at Babycakes and those are pretty good and, I think, more moist than your average cupcake. It's nice that you're looking out for your child's health! My parents let me have Coke as a child (but that's ok because it was the early 80s and the bottles were very petite).

Posted by: Julie | November 19, 2007 at 10:14 PM