Served in many restaurants, watermelon-basil salad with goat cheese is a delicious Summer side dish or salad recipe. It's also gluten free and vegetarian.
12ouncesseedless watermelonsliced into 1 inch bite sized cubes
1tablespoonjalapenodiced ¼ inch (add a few seeds if you like it spicy)
2ozsliced scallions roughly ¼ cup. *See note.
fresh basil leaves to taste
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepperto taste
1cupfresh purslane or sliced fennelcut into 1 inch pieces
Lemon olive oil (optional) you can substitute extra virgin olive oil
2tablespoonspickled watermelon rind(optional)
Fresh lime juice to taste
4 oz fresh chevre
3Tablespoonsheavy cream
Instructions
Mash the goat cheese with the cream in a small bowl until smooth. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
In the bottom of four chilled salad bowls or coupes, spoon two tablespoons of the cheese, spreading it out to make a bed for the watermelon.
In a large salad bowl, combine the watermelon, purslane and jalapeno and scallion. Season the mixture to taste with salt, vinegar, and lemon oil, then carefully mound on top of the cheese.
Tear the basil leaves into bite sized pieces and add them to the salad. Toss to combine, double check the seasoning for salt, pepper and lime. Adjust the seasoning until it tastes good to you, then it's ready to serve. Spoon the salad on top of the cheese on each plate.
Notes
Onions
Some people add red onion to this, but I find it can be strong. I prefer green onions. If you want to add red onions, cut them into ¼ inch dice and soak them in ice water for 30 minutes before adding to the salad. Soaking in ice water will calm their flavor.
Dressing
I don't use the lime and olive oil combined to make a dressing, but some people do. If you want to do that, combine 1 tablespoon lime juice and 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a bowl, whisk together with a pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad to taste, then toss and serve.