Big Greek Melon Salad
This is a classic salad with a summer lift. Melons are at their peak right now, and the weather in case you haven’t noticed is hot, hot, hot. So here is a soothing recipe to cool you down.
My first proper chef's job was in 2004, working at a restaurant inside a windmill in Skiathos, a romantic island in the East of Greece. I made a lot of Greek salad, as you had to have it on the menu or the locals were offended. This recipe is a riff on those days. The melon brings an extra freshness that complements the salty tangy feta and olives so well. For me this salad is about taking your time with the cutting of the ingredients; try to make sure that they are in cubes of a similar size. Be generous with the amount of fresh mint and basil that you use, as always.
Ingredients (Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side)
150g Watermelon, peeled
150g Honeydew melon, peeled
1 small Cucumber, peeled and deseeded
150g Feta cheese
2 Tomatoes
½ Red bell pepper
16 Kalamata olives
⅛ Red onion
Handful Fresh mint and basil
80ml Olive oil
2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dried oregano
Method
This is a chopped salad, so it is all about the chopping. You want the melon, tomato, cucumber, and red pepper to be a similar size of hunky chunk, around 1.5cm cubes. Pop them into a sieve set over a mixing bowl so that any excess juice drains out whilst you are preparing the other ingredients, so that the salad doesn’t get too watery.
Cut the feta cheese into 1cm cubes.
Prepare the dressing by whisking the olive oil into the red wine vinegar. Add half of the oregano and reserve the rest for garnish.
The red onion needs to be sliced as thinly as possible, and the kalamata olives cut in half and deseeded. The fresh herbs should be roughly chopped, but just before serving to keep them fresh and aromatic. All the other ingredients, and the dressing, can be pre-prepared.
Reserve half of the cubes of feta for garnish. Mix everything else together, along with a pinch of salt and a crack of freshly ground black pepper, in a mixing bowl. Fold the salad delicately to make sure that all the ingredients are well dressed.
Place in your serving bowl and garnish with some of the cubes of bright white feta, and a sprinkle of dried oregano.