Surprising Summer Salad: Watermelon and Feta!

Trust me, this sounded weird to me too. Watermelon and feta?! Really?! I had never had watermelon in any kind of savory context. Having both ingredients in the fridge, I decided to experiment. Why the hell not?

An unexpected combination results in a refreshing and totally delicious salad!

The result was way beyond expectations -- absolutely delicious. Refreshing. New. Incredible. The salty and creamy crumbly feta brought out the sweetness of the watermelon in new ways. I added a few mint leaves from my little window garden and a drizzle of olive oil and voila -- added layers of complexity and flavor in what is definitely going to become one of my summer staples.

I came back from work feeling hot and tired the other day and just made a new batch in minutes, scooping chunks of watermelon with a spoon straight into the bowl, crumbling the feta over it with my hands and adding the mint leaves and olive oil. I also tried a bit of balsamic vinegar the second time and that tastes wonderful too -- I can't wait to try a bit of lemon juice... I had a quick, healthy and refreshing snack in no-time and it felt so sophisticated too! 

I hope to play around with this recipe some more this summer, as the possibilities seem endless...

Refreshing Watermelon Sorbet!

Sorbet is a light and refreshing dessert for these long summer days, and the good news is ripe, sweet fruit is plentiful and cheap!

Scrumptious summer watermelon made a delicious sorbet!

Those of us living in China know how hard it is to find quality ice-cream that is not green-bean flavored (though it has mysteriously grown on me in the past few years living here!) and making some sorbet at home is a great option!

I saw this recipe on the New York Times and it was quick and easy to make:

I bought a deliciously ripe, red, juicy watermelon, halved it, seeded it, and put it through a blender. I put this blended watermelon pulp in the freezer for about 40min before putting it in my ice-cream machine. Although the watermelon was sweet enough that sugar was unnecessary, I added about one tablespoon of honey to the mix since I remember hearing from Jamie Oliver that it stops the larger ice-crystals from forming.

The result was a very refreshing and low-calorie summer treat!