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Happy Spring Salad
I think it was three years ago that I had my first bite of a feta and watermelon salad. It was pure love. I never would’ve made the combination myself, but the salty feta tastes fabulous against the fresh sweetness of the watermelon.
I was reminded of this salad when I was watching Food Network the other day and ran into Ina Garten making a similar salad. Of course she then had to go and ruin it by pouring a crazy amount of oil all over.
But the damage was done. Instant craving. Serious craving, while water melons aren’t even in season. Decided to splurge and get myself one of those ridiculously overpriced mixed melon packages at the supermarket.
Didn’t have my hopes up but much to my surprise it was better than expected; the melon flavor didn’t disappoint at all. Can’t wait for summer, though.
This salad rocks, both in flavor and color.
Ingredients:
Salad:
6 cups arugula
1 small red onion
7 oz feta
10 oz (water) melon
1/2 cup black olives
Dressing:
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp oil
fresh mint
salt & pepper
Directions:
Frozen raspberries are perfect for this dressing. I thawed out 1 cup.
And I ran them through my food processor and then through my sieve to remove those pesky seeds. You don’t wanna be flossing all night.
Add the Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar to the berry puree.
Muchas gracias to my chica, Teri, for sending me the maple syrup that is so hard to come by here in NL. Add 2 tbsp!
Squeeze in the lemon juice and pour in the olive oil. I wouldn’t use extra virgin for this if I were you. But I’m not you… so knock yourself out.
Love how it looks. And smells. And tastes.
Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix it up. Taste to see if it needs anything else.
There’s only one thing that will finish this dressing the way it deserves to be finished; fresh mint.
Finely mince a good handful and add it to the dressing.
Did you hear me? No dried mint! I’ll cry.
This is probably my most favorite dressing ever. It’s fragrant, fresh, mildly sweet and well… totally amazing.
Thinly slice the red onion and black olives. You can also leave out the black olives.
Maybe add some cucumber if you happen to have it lying around!
Mix the red onion with the arugula, or whatever salad leaves/lettuce you decide to use.
Cube the feta. Try not to eat too much while chopping!
I was pretty happy with the flavor of the melon. Not as good as it is mid-summer, but perfect for satisfying my craving.
I just cut the pieces a bit smaller. Some of them ended up in my mouth while others made it to the finish.
Okay, just one more photo. Such vivid colors!
Add all your chopped stuff to the salad and drizzle the dressing on top or serve it on the side.
This salad makes me happy. Can’t explain why, but it does.
Serving tip: tastes like a million bucks when paired with grilled white fish!
| Happy Spring Salad | |
| Ingredients |
6 cups arugula Dressing: 1 cup frozen raspberries |
| Directions |
Add the mustard, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, lemon juice and oil. Mix it up. Finely chop a good handful fresh mint and add it to the dressing. Thinly slice the red onion and olives. Add them to the arugula. Cube the feta and melon. Mix it all up and drizzle the dressing on top or serve it on the side. |
| Meal type: | side dish |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Copyright: | © kayotickitchen.com |
20 Comments »
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I’m in love with that dressing you made!
The idea of using raspberries is wonderful. I’ll try it!
Oh that dressing looks delicious! Gonna have to try that soon :)
Tip for the maple syrup: they have it at Oil & Vinegar! (At least in Eindhoven, not sure about other stores.) I was so happy when I found it, cause indeed it’s hard to come by here! I also found it at one of those ‘natuurwinkels’, they even had some more varieties to choose from.
@Gaby:
They also sell it at the Jumbo, but the quality is only so so there. Gonna have to try Oil & Vinegar! Thanks for the tip.
That dressing looks gorgeous!! I love that you used those frozen raspberries and it does all give me that – much needed – feeling of spring! Gorgeous!
Yum! I love this recipe. Especially the raspberry use :)
That salad is screaming ” spring time is here”!
I’ve bought my Maple Syrup at Dille & Kamille in The Hague. The taste is really nice.
This salad looks really good, will try it soon!
@ Rebecca:
Never heard of that store. If it’s this one (http://www.dille-kamille.nl/nl/) I really like it.
Why not use extra-virgin olive oil? What is the taste difference? The salad looks amazing.
I’m wondering: here in Belgium they have lots of grocery shops with raw, natural food like Bio-Planet, Origin’o, … Lots of maple syrup, agave, … over there!
Not in Holland?
@ Marm:
Because it somehow clashes with the raspberries and creates a flavor that just tastes off. At least to me it did.
You can find a lot of american products from this supermarket which is near the trains & burger king at Schiphol Airport. Overpriced but when desperate it’s good to know that place exists.
Maple syrup from Michigan….you’ve got the best stuff there is!
I really love feta and fruit salads and the mint really brings out the flavor of melon. On my menu this week: feta and grape salad, I haven’t decided on the type of dressing yet…I was actually thinking of a blackberry vinaigrette?
@ Kay: Yes, that’s the store!
I’m going to try this recipe tonight with a friend, it looks so utterly delicious and just the right thing to remind us that yes, spring is coming. I suppose I’ll have to buy the maple syrup from the Jumbo, though. Beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose; certainly not on a student budget.
Looks nice, even though I absolutely don’t like feta cheese… but I’ll figure something out to throw in instead. Very summery! :)
As for the maple syrup, in Gouda I’d probably go to the organic supermarket at Lange Groenendaal; my guess is that you’ll find a better quality there than at Jumbo.
I also love Dille&Kamille, here in Leiden we have one as well, and as a foodie you simply have to go sometime! Too bad Gouda doesn’t have one yet.
@ Rebecca:
I now blame you for my addiction to the Dille & Kamille web store. Thanks a lot :)
Ooh Kay dit ziet er verrukkelijk uit. Ik heb kwam deze week ook op een vegan site een frambozen dressing tegen en ik vond helemaal geweldig, maar jou combi is hemels.
Ziet ik netjes alle reacties in het engels te posten, zie ik dat je nederlands bent. Blond! hihi. Dit ziet er ook lekker uit. Ben dol op salade!