Chilled Melon, Cucumber and Mint Salad
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 6 servings
- Calories
- 178
- Total Fat
- 10
- Saturated Fat
- 1
- Carbohydrates
- 24
- Dietary Fiber
- 3
- Sugar
- 19
- Protein
- 3
- Cholesterol
- 0
- Sodium
- 36
- Total: 20 min
- Active: 20 min
Ingredients
2 medium melons, such as cantaloupe, Galia or honeydew
2 medium hothouse cucumbers, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice from 1 small lime
1 tablespoon honey
6 fresh mint sprigs, stemmed
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Special equipment:
a melon baller- Place the melons on a flat surface and split each one in half. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Use the larger-size scoop on a melon baller to scoop out the flesh. The goal is to tightly pack about 6 generous cups of melon flesh and then hollow the four melon halves out for presentation. Scrape the halves with a spoon to smooth the insides and gather additional flesh (and trap any juices) in a separate bowl until you have 1 heaping cup. Save the melon halves. Refrigerate the melon balls.
- Place the melon scraps and juices in a blender and add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lime zest and juice and honey. Puree until smooth and taste for seasoning. Add more honey, if needed. Add a splash of water if more liquid is needed to make a smooth puree. Refrigerate.
- In a medium bowl, toss the cucumbers with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and a generous amount of black pepper. Toss the melon balls with the dressing. Sprinkle the cucumbers and mint over the melon and mix a little. Fill the melon halves.
Cook’s Note
This is such a retro vibe to use the ingredient as the vessel to present the dish. It’s like serving ceviche in a coconut shell or making a giant watermelon “basket” from the rind and serving the watermelon inside it. You know what? I love it. You can serve a melon “half” per person or you can arrange these on a platter and allow more people to serve themselves from the melon vessels. Ideally, the melons should be ripe, so buy whatever is good. Sniff the melons to get a sense of what they will taste like. If ripe, you should smell hints of melon and flowers.