Spicy Watermelon and Feta are a perfect combination for a summer appetizer. The salad is light and refreshing, it has a beautiful color and will satisfy most tastes as it has loads of flavor with little bit of heat for contrast. All in all, a brilliant appetizer.
Tip : Don't limit yourself to serve this appetizer in the summer only as you can get watermelon year around.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 medium finely diced shallot
- 1/2 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp Asian chili sauce (hot)
- 2 tbsp each balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce
Salad
- 5 1" square cubes of watermelon/person
- 1/2 cup lightly crumbled feta cheese
- 1-2 black olives chopped
- 3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves
- 1-2 leaves fresh celery leaves
- 1 whole thinly sliced jalapeno pepper
- olive oil to drizzle
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients before starting the recipe.
Dressing
- Combine 1/2 medium finely diced shallot, 1/2 tbsp grated ginger, 1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp Asian chili sauce (hot) and 2 tbsp each balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and refrigerate overnight.
Salad
- Remove salad dressing from the refrigerator an hour before assembling the salad.
- Arrange 5 1" square cubes of watermelon/person on a long plate. Sprinkle with feta cheese over the watermelon cubes and sprinkle the chopped black olives around the watermelon. The olives are meant to look like watermelon seeds.
- Drizzle dressing over each watermelon cube making sure that you include the crushed pepper and shallots which may have sunk to the bottom of the dressing.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and celery leaves. Top each watermelon cube with a slice of fresh chili.
- Drizzle plate with olive oil from the dressing and serve.
The inspiration for this recipe comes from the renowned Toronto chef Susur Lee.
