Mangia Melon
There are more than 1,200 varieties of melon and yet most people have probably only tried a handful. August is the perfect time to stretch your palette and search for new flavors at the farmers market. My local market boasts options like canary melons, snow leopard melons, arava melons, crimson sweet, yellow and orange watermelons, korean torpedo melon (a favorite of mine!), cantaloupes and sugar babies, to name a few.
While watermelon will always likely be the fan favorite (Americans eat watermelon more than any other type), when you’re cooking with watermelon it’s helpful to think of them as two categories: (1) watermelon and (2) creamy melons, which is how one of my favorite cooking resources, The Flavor Thesaurus, separates them. This magical reference guide offers suggestions on all the food pairings that are tried and true throughout history. Even when I think something is questionably paired, sure enough it comes together in the end.
I like to mix tomatoes + watermelon together in salads, salsas and soups (a la watermelon gazpacho). Since they’re both watery fruits, they usually need a hearty pepper or crunchy cucumber in there with some bite to balance them out. At the top of the month I made a mediterranean chopped salad (recipe below) which offered a beautiful mix of flavors anchored by heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, crunchy banana peppers and cukes and rounded out by fresh herbs and salty elements like crushed olives and crumbled feta. It’s the perfect accompaniment to grilled meats or fish.
It’s also fun to play off the classic pairings - take cantaloupe & prosciutto, a match made in heaven. This sweet + salty combination takes a new turn in Bon Appetit’s remix with Honeydew + Lox! Yum.
One of the lesser-known melons I look forward to at the end of summer is the Korean torpedo melon. It’s texture is closer to a pear, less sweet than a honeydew and it’s beautifully crunchy. It’s perfect alone but I also turn it into a rustic salsa with grilled fish, very thinly sliced served with crudo, and even as a crunch on a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with sourdough bread, goat cheese and prosciutto. If you live locally near me, you can find it this weekend at The TaSH Farmers Market.
Mediterranean Chopped Salad
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole cucumber, seeded + peeled, diced into 1/2” pieces
1 cup watermelon, seeded + diced into 1/2” pieces
1 banana pepper, seeded + chopped into 1/2” pieces
1 tropea or or 1/2 small red sweet onion, chopped into 1/2” pieces
1 - 2 heirloom tomatoes, diced into 1/2” pieces
1/3 cup crumbled Feta (the kind in the brine!)
Fresh dill, basil + oregano
Red wine vinegar + extra virgin olive oil
Salt + pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Add the first five ingredients into a bowl and mix gently together to blend.
Add crumbled feta and gently fold in without smushing the cheese. (You want the chunks to stay chunky!)
Sprinkle about 1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar over the salad and drizzle with olive oil until it achieves the acidity you prefer. I usually do a ratio of about 40/60 vinegar/oil for this salad.
Season with salt and pepper and add herbs to finish, tossing gently just before serving.
