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Thursday 13 August 2015

HOW TO MAKE A WATERMELON, FETA CHEESE, RED ONION AND MINT SALAD

Good Morning to you,


When I lived in Cyprus, I used to look forward to the watermelon season, because Cypriot watermelons were delicious and I have to tell you, they were huge.... yes, so huge that we could never do them justice in just one sitting.  So to make sure we did not waste any of this lovely fruit, we would cut the watermelon in half, keep one and share the other half with friends..... if only I had known about watermelon juice back then, we could have enjoyed many glasses of the refreshing juice during the long hot summer months.

So as you can imagine, when we visited New Delhi, I was thrilled to discover that watermelons were in season. 

The watermelons were so fresh, because they had not travelled very far. Cart loads of melons would trundle into the city everyday from the surrounding villages. 

So today, in honour of my love of Cyprus and India, yes, I think you have guessed, one of the ingredients we are going to be using is, watermelon. We are going to make


a Watermelon salad.  It is fresh and zingy and we love it.  It may seem a bit of a strange combination, but the sweetness of the watermelon and the tang of the Feta cheese and red onion work really well together.

So its 'on with the pinnie' and the music, I am listening to is, Indian Bhangra music, which transports me straight back to India.


Click on the YouTube link (I do hope it works as it is the first time I have added a YouTube link..... fingers crossed) and I feel sure, you will be foot tapping, if not dancing around your kitchen... I know I am.  I find Bhangra music so infectious..... the music starts and I feel my shoulders moving up and down in time to the music and then that's it, I'm in a world of my own. 

So with my shoulders taking on a life of their own, it's time to organise my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
YOU WILL NEED
TO MAKE
WATERMELON, FETA CHEESE, RED ONION
AND MINT SALAD

2 small red onions (you will use only one)
1/2 water melon
2 large lemons
200g Feta cheese
8-10 fresh mint leaves
black pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil

HOW TO MAKE
WATERMELON, FETA CHEESE, RED ONION
AND MINT SALAD


THE NIGHT BEFORE

We are going to tenderise the red onions with the lemon juice, so you will need to do this the night before you make the salad.


Peel the onions

and


slice into circles.
Pop into a bowl


Juice the two lemons.


Then 
pour the lemon juice over the onion rings.
  Toss together.


Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in the fridge overnight.  
If you are happy with full flavoured onions,
 then leave the red onions in the fridge
 for three or four hours.
I soak the onions overnight as
personally I enjoy a much more
mellow flavoured onion.

We will only be using half of the sliced onion in this dish. 
So remove half and place into a separate dish.
 I will explain why at the end
of the recipe.

THE NEXT DAY


Cut the melon in half
(The recipe calls for half, but I assume you have bought a whole watermelon)
and then,


into quarters.


Remove the rind and the pips and cut the
watermelon into 1 inch chunks.
Set aside for the moment.


Cut the Feta Cheese into roughly 1 inch cubes.
Set aside for the moment.


Wash the fresh mint and remove the leaves from the stem.


Place a third of the watermelon, 
a third of the Feta cheese 
and 
a third of the red onion into a large serving bowl 
and,


sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.


Repeat the process until you have used all of the watermelon, Feta cheese and the red onion.

You will notice there is some watermelon juice left in the bottom of the bowl which held the watermelon.

Mix the watermelon juice
with,
 1 tablespoon of olive oil
 and 
1 tablespoon of lemon juice left over from the
 soaked onions
 and
 whisk together.


Pour the dressing over the salad
 and 
add the mint leaves
 and
 there you have it,
 a lovely fresh summer salad.

You must be wondering about the rest of the
 onion rings?


Well it's time to tell you, I pop them into a small Tupperware pot, with the left over lemon juice and keep them for the next day, when we use the other half of the watermelon to  re-make this salad.

I really don't mind having this watermelon salad twice as it really is a refreshing salad when the weather is warm.

.... or if you prefer, you could put them into a small dish and allow people to add extra red onion to the watermelon salad.

.... or you could add the onions to a cheese sandwich as George sometimes does.... he loves cheese and onion sandwiches.

Before I go, I realise some people say a watermelon is a fruit and some people say it is a vegetable.  I have always known it as a fruit. I was wondering, what about you, do you know it is a fruit or do you know it is a vegetable?

Take care and I will see you next Thursday.

This week I will be joining,



and









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Daphne

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