Serves: 3-4 - Time:
I would happily eat this salad on rotation with perhaps a panzanella as the other favoured summer dish. Watermelon is such a great salad ingredient but it is so often overlooked. The mini melons now have so much flavour and their dinky size means you are not left eating watermelon for days on end (not that that would be a problem for me). Although the onion needs an hour to steep in the vinegar, the rest of the dish takes a matter of minutes to prepare. You can also serve it as a salsa-to accompany some barbecued meat or fish. Simply chop the ingredients into little cubes.
Ingredients
- ½ red onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 3-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ baby watermelon
- 5 mini cucumber, topped and tailed
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Method
- 1 Put the red onion slices in a small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Massage the onion gently for 2-3 minutes until it softens. Pour over enough vinegar to cover the onion, cover and leave for one hour.
- Cut the watermelon into slices, remove the rind and cut the flesh into 1cm pieces. Place in a mixing bowl. Cut the cucumbers into similar sized pieces and add to the watermelon. Stir in the chilli, mint, sumac and olive oil. Season well with salt and ground black pepper.
- Lift the onion slices out of the vinegar and stir into the salad. Taste and season again with salt and pepper if necessary.
