Best Ever Summertime Salad

Whatever your doing right now, stop!

Wait a second, your reading my blog, never mind, continue reading.

Let me rephrase, whatever you have planned after you finish reading my blog, forget about it! What I want you to do instead, is to put on some comfortable shoes and take a stroll down to your local produce store. Once you are there I advise you to place in your basket a dribbling hunk of watermelon. It should be whole not diced, though you will not need an entire melon so a half will suffice. Next, I want you to head over to the tomatoes. If they have heirloom, don't be intimidated by their freakish looks, snatch them up I say. If no, that's alright, grab the ones that look the most colorful, ripe, and ready to be taken home, if you know what I mean, wink wink. Now that your two chief ingredients are secured, I invite you to finish things off with a bundle of fresh mint, a red onion, 1/4-1/2 lb. of feta cheese, and a lime.

Having completed my modest requests, and returned to your kitchen, you are now ready to make yourself the best - and I say this in all seriousness - ever summertime salad. Don't believe me? Then follow these instruction and see for yourself.

Best Ever Summertime Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes
3/4 pint of grape tomatoes (i used yellow)
2 medium sized heirloom tomatoes
4-5 quarter inch slices of water melon
1/4 lb of feta cheese
handful of mint, diced
red onion, pickled or raw
1/4 cup of good flavored olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
sea salt to taste

1.) Cut grape tomatoes in half, grape tomatoes into thirds, and rustically dice the heirlooms
2.)Combine tomatoes and lightly squeeze to release the juices
3.) Add the remaining ingredients, minus the melon, and toss lightly
4.) Using a circular cookie cutter, cut disks out of the melon flesh
5.) Place melon disks on salad plate, poke with a fork a few times (to soak up dressing) and cover with tomato salad.
6.) Drizzle with dressing, pomegranate molasses, if you have it, and fresh pepper




There are endless ways you could serve this versatile salad. Seared scallops, grilled shrimp skewers, or ceviche would make the perfect accompaniment. Or, serve it as an appetizer for heavier meals such a barbecue, or a refreshing counterpoint to rich Thai and Indian Curries. Then again, you could enjoy it all by its lonesome as I did after a long day out in the simmering sun of Brighten Beach.


*WARNING - Be advised, if consumed,this salad may cause an irrational and insatiable desire to eat nothing but watermelon, tomatoes and feta. All other foods may be rendered inedible, all other salads, unpalatable. The only way to cure this ravaging fever, is to eat tons and tons of The Best Ever Summertime Salad.

Sweet Talkin' Summer Essentials

I don’t know about you, but when the temperature rises above 90 degrees I don’t even want to look at the stove. Salad, cold soup, slaw, sorbet, and anything else that does not require additional heat are my summertime essentials. That is why yesterday I set out across Brooklyn to pay a visit to a little produce shop called, Atlantic Fruit and Veg. Japanese grocery.
There is nothing remarkable about this little market accept for the fact that it is always well stocked with handsomely ripe fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and what seems like an endless supply of un-bruised Arugula.
The day was hot, but there was a misleading breeze that lulled me gently into an uninhibited state and with my i-pod blasting Leningrad, the Russian ska/punk/klezmer version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, I skipped down the street to the pounding beat, giving fellow pedestrians the impression that I had lost my mind. Once I arrived, having literally hopped across Brooklyn, my little Japanese fruit Market appeared like a colorful mirage, an edible rainbow composed of radiant fruits all of which were screaming out to be eaten.
The watermelon was particularly inviting and well, I don't know about you, but I have never been able to say no to a nice looking watermelon.
The cherries, having clearly been heavily picked through earlier that day, were expressly calling out for asylum. I picked out as many acceptable ones as I could find, I could put them in my morning yogurt.
Unlike their Florida counterpart, these Haitian mangoes were too busy suffering from culture shock to feel threatened by the legendary Alphonso Mango.
These rowdy Florida Mangoes on the other hand, accosted me as I entered the store. "Come on guys, did I not buy enough of you last week?" I tried reasoning with them, but their silent guilt-trip pulled just the right strings. I suppose I could make some sorbet. 'I better get out of here before I get sweet talked into buying anything else' I thought to myself as I ran for the register.
Here are a few of the concoctions I came up with.
Cabbage, Carrot, and Apple Slaw tossed in an
Unruly Mango Ginger Cilantro Dressing
garnished with crushed Spanish peanuts
Recipe:
1 cup - Mango puree
1 Tbsp- Sesame oil
1 Tbsp- shredded ginger
1 Tbsp - Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tsp - Pomegranate Molasses or Honey
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste


Chilled Cucumber and Watermelon Soup
Recipe:
1 seedless cucumber diced
1/4 of a med sized seedless watermelon diced
2 Tbsp - shredded ginger (alright, so I'm crazy about ginger)
1/2 cup - chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp - Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp of yogurt or cream
salt and pepper to taste

1.) in a food processor, puree the cucumber and melon, holding aside 1 cup of diced melon
2.) mix in all other ingredients minus the yogurt
3.) Chill for at least an hour
4.) Mix in yogurt or cream when ready to serve
Mango Sorbet
compliments of David Lebovitz's masterpiece, The Perfect Scoop

2 large, ripe Mangoes
2/3 cup - sugar
2/3 cup - water
4 tsp - freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon of dark rum (I used ginger infused vodka)
pinch of salt

1.) peel mangoes and cut out flesh and cut into chunks
2.) Puree in blender with sugar, water, lime juice, rum, and salt
3.) Chill mixture, them freeze according to your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions