I love a good summer salad and this one hits all the marks. Cool, sweet, salty- all the feels. And just the right amount of acid. I would serve this on its own or with a nice piece of salmon or chicken, but it will go with absolutely anything.
When using feta, buy the block of feta, not the crumbled feta. It is much better when you crumble it yourself. Also be careful when adding salt when you use feta. Feta is very salty and many times you can omit the salt or at least cut back on the amount. You don’t have to add feta. A nice burrata would be good or simply serve it over some cottage cheese. Don’t judge me on my love of cottage cheese. It has tons of protein and is the perfect compliment to the summer veggies and fruit that’s coming in right now. If you have someone in your house that doesn’t like cottage cheese, try throwing it into mini food processor and whipping it. I called this whipped cheese at my house, because if I called it cottage cheese, no one but me would eat it. I make creamy dressing with it, put it on bagels…you get the picture.
For the acid, today I used used apple cider vinegar, but try out different acids such as lime, white balsamic, red wine vinegar. I love to play around with acids.
If by chance, you have cut your cantaloupe and it isn’t quite as sweet as you hoped, you can add a touch of honey to the dressing. A little honey never hurt anyone or anything.
My herb of choice for this is fresh basil, but if you are a mint lover, you could definitely substitute it.
This dish is beautiful with all the summer colors. Be sure to serve it in something that makes the colors pop- a white bowl, a wooden bowl or even a clear glass bowl would be nice.
For the wine lovers, I would pair this with a good sauvignon blanc, one of my favorites is Emmolo. A nice crisp chardonnay, like Mer Soleil Silver would also be lovely. Both of these are by Caymus and very good quality and excellent price point.
Cantaloupe Cucumber Strawberry Salad
An unforgettable simple summer salad.
Ingredients
4 cups diced cantaloupe
2 cups diced cucumber
3/4 cup diced red onion
4 ounces feta cheese
fresh basil
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Dressing:
3 tbsp good olive oil
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Directions
Throw all the ingredients into a bowl. In a separate container mix the dressing and pour over the ingredients in the bowl and toss. Best served chilled.
Make this recipe your own. You could easily substitute different cheeses and acids. I like to serve with a pretty basil leaf off to the side.
