My brothers and I used to stand on the little grassy patch behind the basketball net, heads tilted back, spitting our watermelon seeds as high and far as possible – all in an effort to clear the fence that divided our yard from our neighbor’s yard. It was a tall fence and I don’t remember whether or not our watermelon seeds made it. But, much to my parents’ chagrin, a lot of other items made it over that fence…basketballs, wiffle balls, baseballs, hockey pucks…and as the youngest, I always had to sneak around the corner and slither between their landscaping to toss everything back.
This all happened before they started splicing genes and selling seedless watermelons at the store, forever ending the childhood tradition of seed-spitting contests (really, though, do you think 90’s babies have ever experienced the frustration of having to work for a seedless bite of melon?).
Seeds or not, watermelons are a symbol of summer. I put fruit in my salads year round, but during summer months I swap out green apples for watermelon. This weekend, I threw together the simplest summer salad around – arugula, watermelon, and feta. It is a summertime treat that is absolutely worth trying (and devouring). It is SO good, but I don’t have to convince you – it’s only five ingredients and takes a matter of minutes to make, so get busy. This recipe will serve 4-5 as a side or will serve 2 as a main dish. I packed it for two days of lunch.
Ingredients:
2 cups of seedless watermelon
1.5 cups of feta
1 bag of baby arugula (about 7 oz)
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cube up your watermelon and feta – I went for 1 inch cubes of watermelon and slightly smaller cubes of feta. In a small jar, combine the red wine vinegar and olive oil. Feel free to add some fresh citrus juice if desired – lemon juice is a nice touch, but definitely not a necessity. Whisk the two together and add a few shakes of sea salt.
In a large bowl or on a platter, make a bed of fresh arugula. Top with feta and watermelon.
Dress the watermelon salad and toss lightly, topping off with some fresh cracked pepper. Et voila – a deliciously simple and light salad!
