SUMMER SALAD
Susan Simon pulls a recipe from her latest book just in time for your Fourth of July cookout.
WATERMELON SALAD, PICKLED CHERRY TOMATOES, FETA, BLACK OLIVES
Watermelon salads are frequent summertime salad options. This one gives a nod to the Eastern European custom of pickling melon by pickling the tomatoes instead. I use mint instead of the usual dill and add feta for saltiness, as well as Moroccan black olives, as a way of highlighting the other ingredients. For my salad, a kind of Pantone color chart of reds, I scoop out melon balls to imitate the cherry tomato shape.
TOMATOES:
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Peeled strips of zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish (optional)
- Pinch of Aleppo pepper flakes
- 1 pint assorted cherry tomatoes
SALAD:
- 3 pounds seedless watermelon scooped into 1-inch balls or cut into chunks (3 to 4 cups)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped cured Moroccan olives
- ½ cup crumbled feta
Serves 6
DIRECTIONS:
1 Combine the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, lemon zest, mint leaves and Aleppo pepper flakes in a large jar with a lid. Shake to incorporate the ingredients.
2 Use a toothpick to prick a few holes in each of the cherry tomatoes, then add them to the pickling liquid. Let the tomatoes stand for at least 2 days in a cool, dark place.
3 Make the salad: Place the watermelon balls in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, olives, feta and drained cherry tomatoes. Toss to combine.
4 Serve right away or later. The salad will keep for up to 2 days, refrigerated, in a covered bowl.
I’ve been fascinated by pickled watermelons since my first food shopping trip out to Brighton Beach, situated alongside the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean, in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn. Brighton Beach has a famously Russian Jewish population with more than a few markets—including a couple of huge supermarkets—that sell everything an Eastern European immigrant would desire. Most of the markets keep big barrels of pickled watermelon —whole pieces, not just the rinds, for sale.
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