Watermelon Salad a la Nigella Lawson

Nothing says summer like a bowl of watermelon. With olives, lime-juice-soaked onions, chopped mint and parsley, and feta cheese. Oh, and pepper.

Before you scream "Gross!" give me a moment to explain! This is one of the most surprising dishes I've ever encountered. The first time I made it, I was skeptical the whole time I was preparing it, and halved the recipe because I feared it would be terrible.

Boy was I wrong. It's so good, and I can't even figure out why. Here's the best I can describe it: olives, feta cheese, onions, lime juice, and the herbs all go together according to conventional wisdom. It's not at all strange to put those things together in a salad with a raw vegetable. Cucumber, for instance, is often used in a feta and olive salad. The stroke of genius is taking a fruit (watemelon) and substituting it in place of a crunchy cold vegetable like cucumber. And, shockingly, it works very well. Watermelon only has a very mild flavor of its own, and is slightly grassy in the same way that cucumber is. the resulting salad is more savory than sweet; more a side dish than a fruity dessert.

It's magical, and it's a great way to change things up when you've eaten more than half a twenty-five pounder by the slab. It's also a good way to use up the kind of watermelon we get this time of year: juicy and crispy, but not yet at the height of sweetness.

Note: I play very fast and loose with the recipe, putting in very rough amounts and then adjusting to taste. For me, more mint and less parsley works well, and I like to chop both very finely.

Link to recipe