Brunch or lunch, delicious!
The past three weekends the Round Top Antique Show has been going on and we’ve had company three times. I made this salad twice during that time and liked it better each time I made it.
Life has kind of gotten in the way of me posting lately. Back in the Fall I started playing mahjong and now play twice a week and have withdrawal if I don’t play. I’ve learned to play by myself for practice so that helps until I can play again.
When we first moved to Round Top almost 5 years ago it was hard to imagine what our lives would be like. RT is the smallest town we have ever lived in with population of 87. I knew my HUB (aka Papa G around the brewery) would be smokin’ meat but after our house was finished and I was no longer in the kitchen helping Paul then I started getting involved with all these other activities that were available for me to get involved in like RT Lunch Bunch, Coffee Shop morning, Herb Society once a month which also has a culinary group I attend, mahjong at Busted Oak Cellars and again at RT Family Library and then all the events that pop up throughout the year definitely keeps us as busy as we want to be.
I love cooking for company so when my daughter and friends came one weekend and other friends came the next weekend I made this salad twice. The original version only had cantaloupe but I love watermelon so I used that also. For one of the salads I used roasted chopped cashew nuts and the other I left the nuts off. You could sub the nut for any other nut or seeds like pumpkin or sunflower. The goat cheese and mint are a good combination in this salad.I
If you want to make a smaller salad just buy the container of melon that is already cut up and it will save you $$ and time
BLAST FROM THE PAST: You can use some of your leftover melon to make this Watermelon Amuse Bouche. A great little bite for the spring and summer.
Scoop small balls of melon using ice cream scoop.
You can either scoop or cut melons into small cubes.
You can cut the melons up the day before and refrigerate.
Put some baby greens and a little arugula into salad bowl. Top with the fruit and other ingredients except nuts and cheese. Drizzle on the dressing (you only want enough to moisten the greens) and then top with cheese and nuts.
Melon Salad with Goat Cheese and Lime Mint Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 C. cantaloupe balls or 1" cubes
- 2 c. watermelon balls or 1" cubes
- 1/4 c. thinly sliced red onions*
- 4 large mint leaves thinly sliced, for garnish
- 2 c. baby spring mix or other baby greens (or two handfuls)
- 1/4 c. roasted cashews hazelnuts, almonds or any other nut or seed*
- 2-4 oz. soft goat cheese crumbled for garnish
- Dressing:
- zest from one lime
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 mint leaves thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the dressing: Mix the lime juice, mint leaves, zest, olive oil and honey. Whisk until blended then add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve the salad
- Using a melon baller or small ice cream scoop, scoop the cantaloupe and the watermelon into small balls. Set aside or refrigerate until needed.
- In a large serve bowl (I like to use a flatter type bowl so show the fruit better) add the baby greens, the cantaloupe and watermelon. Top with thinly sliced red onions. Add salad dressing (It may ot take all of it to moisten the salad) and toss. Sprinkle with the mint leaves, coat cheese and the nuts/seeds.
Recipe Notes
*I'm used roasted cashews for one breakfast and the other no nuts.
If my red onions or on the strong side I usually take a cup of water and 1/4 c. sugar and soak the onion rings for about 15 minutes. Drain ad then add to salad.
When making the thinly sliced mint leaves use the chiffonade technique where you stack the leaves up and roll and then cut ito small thin slices.
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