This watermelon salad recipe is so delicious and refreshing! It features cubed ripe watermelon over mint-basil yogurt sauce, with cucumber, shallot and fresh herbs. Recipe yields 6 to 8 side servings.
Ingredients
Watermelon salad
3 pounds ripe seedless watermelon (about ½ small round watermelon or 4 cups cubed), cut into ¾″ cubes
2 mini cucumbers or 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
½ cup thinly sliced shallot (1 medium-to-large shallot)
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Small handful fresh mint and basil leaves, torn if large, for garnish
⅓ cup lightly packed combination of fresh basil and fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
Pinch of fine sea salt
Directions
In a small bowl, combine the sliced shallot with the vinegar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, and place in the refrigerator to lightly pickle while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Make the yogurt sauce: In a food processor, combine the yogurt, fresh herbs, olive oil, honey, and a pinch of salt. Blend until the herbs are broken into tiny pieces and the sauce is pale green. (If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the herbs and whisk the ingredients together in a bowl.)
Swirl the yogurt sauce (all of it) over the base of a large serving platter. Scatter the cubed watermelon on top, followed by the cucumber. Arrange the pickled shallot on top, and spoon the leftover vinegar over the salad.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil on top, sprinkle generously with fresh herbs, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. If you won’t be serving immediately, place the salad in the refrigerator to stay chilled. This salad is best served within an hour or two.