An almost nothing recipe for watermelon and tomato salad

When summer hits, fresh produce dominates the conversation, and usually I’m right there in the middle of it. But watermelon has usually been where it stops—I’ve long thought it was quite literally too watery to pack much of a punch, with a kind of weird texture. That’s the point! you’re saying to yourself right now, and yes, I know. There’s no accounting for literal taste.

Luckily, time heals most mistakes, and I’ve found myself warming to the weirdness of watermelon over the past few years, to the point of, dare I say, almost craving it sometimes? Tapping into the joys of watermelon salad, which ups the flavor and savoriness of the watermelon, was my way in.

Watermelon salad is the furthest thing from complicated, and is often made from this algorithm: watermelon + oil + acid + salt + cheese + maybe some other seasonal fruit or veg. So following my dad’s recipe without editing it too much wasn’t challenging, because it’s about the same as the others out there.

The first key step is to not forget to buy watermelon, which is what I did when I went to the grocery store and so then had to head back out again. Given my time wasted, I cheated and bought pre-cubed melon because unless you’re feeding a crowd, chopping a big one yourself is both threatening and unnecessary.

We’d used up our garden-grown cherry tomatoes, so I cut up a beautiful heirloom guy, and added the scallions. I might be slightly allergic to blue cheese and its varietals—it always makes my mouth feel weird, which I found out later in life might be an indicator it’s not for me! So I used feta instead, my tried-and-true.

I skipped the whole “whisk the juice, oil and vinegar” together step—it sounded like the stuff of people who are precious. Instead, I mixed in salt and pepper, olive oil, and a combination of sherry vinegar and red wine vinegar with the rest of the ingredients, ballparking and not measuring any amounts. I added a slight bit of cayenne, but only a slight slight bit. And I pivoted away from the suggested herbs, as watermelon salad is the perfect set up for garden basil and mint.

I probably served this a little later than 30 minutes after making it— blasphemy to those who feel like everything will get too soggy. But I like the juices to all settle together, and no one is serving watermelon salad and saying “wow that looks stunning.” It’s for summer scarfing at it’s finest.

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