Recipe Background
Unusually Good Salad: Watermelon meets kalamata in a savory twist, perfect for culinary adventures.
The summer after I graduated college was a blur of job applications and living out of boxes. I found myself back at my parent's house, my now empty college dorm echoing in my mind. One blistering afternoon, while unpacking some dusty kitchen gadgets, I stumbled across a frankly bizarre assortment of ingredients in the pantry. Watermelon sat stoically beside a can of olives, and the fridge offered a good hunk of feta along with some wilting mint leaves. It was the culinary equivalent of a scavenger hunt and I was up for the challenge.
Calling it a 'graduation gift to myself,' I decided to create something boldly unconventional. I chunked the watermelon with a sense of purpose, praying it would all somehow harmonize. The sight of black kalamata olives next to the bright red melon was amusingly eccentric but I trusted the tang and salt of the olives would far outweigh their looks. I sprinkled crumbled feta, recalling its magical ability to complement just about anything. As a final flourish, julienned mint zipped across the salad, energetic and determined. A quick drizzle of olive oil brought the components together, as if saying, 'You’ve got this.' Generous pinches of salt and pepper were the confetti on this graduation party of a dish.
The moment I tasted it, I knew I'd tapped into a new tradition. Each bite took me back to that chaotic transition, reminding me how unexpected meetings can yield spectacular results. If you try this, let the watermelon sit atop the salad for a couple of minutes before combining. That gentle pause lets the juice seep in, transforming it from a mix of oddities to an unusually good masterpiece.
Ingredients
- 6 cups watermelon chopped
- 8 ounces black kalamata olives pitted
- 4 ounces feta cheese crumbled
- 20 mint leaves julienned
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine the watermelon, the kalamata olives, the feta cheese, and the mint and gently stir to combine.
- Drizzle the salad with the olive oil and season with the salt and the pepper.
- Serve.
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