Melon and Feta Salad with Sumac Dressing

(to beat the heat!)

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Beat the Heat

Melon season is here and it’s a good thing. With triple-digit temps in my corner of Southern California, anything cool, crisp, and refreshing is so tantalizing right now. At my local grocery store there are mounds of ripe cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon just waiting to be cut, refrigerated, and devoured on a hot day.

Perfectly ripe!

There’s been some hate online recently about melons being an unwelcome addition to fruit salads, tasting like wet styrofoam, and generally being disgusting. And I’d have to agree with that but only when melons are OUT OF SEASON. Any time other than summer is a terrible time to eat them. We’ve talked before about eating things in season.

But melons in summer? Sweet, luscious, and frankly, kind of sexy. Okay, maybe not that last part. Seriously, though. They are so so delicious when ripe.

This week’s salad features melons and feta cheese. You’ve likely seen this combination in watermelon feta salads which, full disclosure, I’ve never really liked. The ones I have eaten in the past were too liquidy, too crumbly, and too room temperature-y. The result was a watery, salty, hot mess of a salad.

However, I could not resist the simple beauty of this one I spied it on Pinterest. It’s basically blocks of cheese and fruit. So, I made it. And wow, what a difference to include thick and chunky blocks of feta!

Feta

In case you didn’t know, feta is a soft sheep's milk cheese that is popular throughout the Mediterranean. We saw it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner when we were in Greece a few months ago. Sometimes it is a combination of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Cured in brine, the cheese has a salty and tangy flavor.

Chunks of feta in the Greek hotel breakfast buffet and on my cutting board at home.

I became familiar with the cheese the first time I had spanakopita, the layered phyllo, spinach, and feta pie. What a delicious revelation to me that cheese wasn’t hard and yellow like the cheddar that my mom used to purchase at the military commissary when I was growing up. I immediately loved the texture and the saltiness of feta.

The cheese is creamy white in color and comes in sliced blocks submerged in brine. It is also sold already crumbled and in airtight containers without brine. Although most U.S. grocery stores now sell feta, many times it is made from cow’s milk.

Feta pairs so nicely with a sumac dressing.

Sumac

Sumac is becoming better known here in the U.S. It has long been a widely used ingredient in the Middle East and parts of the Mediterranean. The berries of the sumac plant are dried then ground up into a coarse powder that is dark burgundy.

Wouldn’t this be a dramatic lipstick color? Actually, it exists: MAC’s Diva.

The ground spice is tart and tangy. Dip your finger in some sumac and do a taste test. You will find it more puckery-tasting than your average lemon.

It adds a bright and astringent lemon juice-like zing without introducing additional liquid to dishes that are meaty, fatty, or already moist. Just a pinch sprinkled on roasted chicken, salad, or dressing garnishes them with a pop of color, tang, and texture.

Recipe

Melon and Feta Salad with Sumac Dressing

Serves 4

Time needed: 15-ish minutes

Cool, bright, and tangy, this is one of the prettiest summer salads! Summer melon cubes combine with big chunks of feta into a colorful geometry of flavor (is it more Tetris or Minecraft?). Everything gets drizzled with dressing and topped with fresh herbs. Many thanks go to The Lemon Apron for the salad inspiration.

This is a loosey-goosey recipe. Change and adapt it to suit you. Don’t like watermelon or cantaloupe? Sub in honeydew, casaba, or other melon depending on what’s in season where you are. Want to decrease the number of tomatoes? Do it. The cup measurements are just suggestions. You’re an adult, so do what you want.

Salad:

• 1 cup watermelon, cut into cubes

• 1 cup cantaloupe, cut into cubes

• 1 cup cucumber, cut into cubes

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

• 4 oz. block of feta, cut into cubes

• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, sliced thin into ribbons

• 1 Tbsp fresh mint, sliced thin into ribbons

Sumac Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp ground sumac

• 1 Tbsp chili-infused honey (like Mike’s Hot Honey)

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Garnish: whole basil and mint leaves

Directions:

1. Cut all your watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, and feta about the same size. It makes for a nicer presentation. If you don’t care about that, forget what I just said.

2. Arrange the cubes of melon, cucumber, feta, and halved cherry tomatoes on a plate. Top with the ribbons of basil and mint, sprinkling evenly.

3. Pour the lemon juice, olive oil, sumac, honey, salt, and pepper into a jar with a screw-top lid. Twist on the lid and shake until the dressing emulsifies and is combined. Drizzle the salad with some of the dressing, garnish with additional herbs, and serve.

Tell Me

How are you keeping cool this summer? Does it involve eating melon? I’d love to know.

The summer salad kick continues next week with a combo of two California classics mashed into one dish that is both delicious and gorgeous. See you next Friday!