Spicy Tuesday – Wonderful Watermelon Salad – Mint

There’s nothing better than pink, juicy, sweet, drippy watermelon in the summer. Typically, we just enjoy eating it right out of hand, sharing with friends and family as we lean over to avoid getting rained on by the sticky juices. This week’s recipe is a exception –  and even though it is – we haven’t added lots to this wonderful watermelon salad. It’s simply a few perfectly chosen ingredients to add a savory slant to the succulent melon.

Oil cured olives allow us to avoid adding additional oil to the salad. Typically from Morocco or Greece, these olives reach optimum flavor by curing first in salt and then soaked in olive oil until the are withered and super-packed with flavor. Just a few of these meaty and less bitter olives are the secret to this salads briny twang. We can find oil cured olives in the grocery store here in Atlanta, but if you can’t find them where you are, they are available on line.

A sprinkling of good feta is also added, and a half of a red onion, too. When we add raw onion to a salad, we always start our recipe by soaking the chopped or sliced onion in a boil of ice water for about 30 minutes. This removes the sting from the onion without stripping it of its wonderful onion flavor. Try using this tip for other salads too.

The last step is throwing in a smattering of chopped basil and mint leaves. Both of these pungent herbs add lots of flavor to the salad, without salt, fat, sugar or calories. Mint, especially is a great partner to the basil in this salad. Mint is wonderful for many reasons health reasons as well. It can help soothe digestion issues which include nausea and vomiting. It is also great with respiratory issues and coughing.  See below for a full list of reasons to include mint in this great salad!

Wonderful Watermelon Salad

¼ Small Red Onion, sliced into thin rings

12 Cups Chopped Watermelon

12 Oil Cured Black Olives, chopped

¼ Cup Crumbled Feta

Juice of 1 Lemon

Handful of Mint and Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Place the onion in a small bowl of ice water and set aside while you chop the watermelon and olives. Toss the watermelon, olives, and feta and lemon juice together gently. Remove the onion from the bowl and pat dry. Sprinkle the salad with the onion and herbs.