Watermelon, Cucumber, and Feta Salad

 
After a weekend of gorging myself, the only thing I really wanted for dinner was salad.  But I didn't want any old salad.  I wanted a salad that was more than just boring lettuce, tomatoes, onions and dressing.  What can I say?  I'm a salad snob.   I love the idea of salad, but I find that they are often very disappointingly mundane and are rarely filling.  The salads I tend to like have unique combinations of ingredients, either with or without protein, and more substance to them than your average side salad.

I have made (and eaten) several different kinds of watermelon salads, including this Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad.  This one might be my favorite.  I really liked the combination of the citrus dressing and fresh mint with the watermelon, feta, onion and cucumbers.  Perhaps because the salad was more savory than sweet, I just found it to be more interesting and more filling.  Between Alex and I we finished off an entire large mixing bowl of the salad, which would have been harder to do with a sweeter watermelon salad.  But with this salad, every bite was completely different than every other bite because of the distinct tastes of each ingredient.  In each bite you have the sweetness of the watermelon, the saltiness of the feta, the bitterness of the arugula, the bite of the red onion, and the freshness of the cucumbers.  This salad was exactly what I needed after a weekend of gorging on everything in sight.

Recipes after the jump!

Watermelon, Cucumber, and Feta Salad

Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans

By Susan Spicer with Paula Disbrowe

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups watermelon, seeded and diced

2 cups English cucumber, diced

2 cups baby arugula, washed and dried

1 small red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

Citrus Dressing

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbed

Toss watermelon, cucumber, arugula, onion and dressing together in a large salad bowl.  Divide into individual salad plates.  Top with crumbled feta.  Serve.

Citrus Dressing

Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans

By Susan Spicer with Paula Disbrowe

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp honey

1/3 cup evoo

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

pinch cayenne pepper

salt

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, lime juice, and honey.  Slowly stream in evoo while whisking, then add mint, cayenne, and salt to taste.