Feta and watermelon salad

I often tell people that one of the reasons I like to take pictures and write about food is because I remember things through food. When I visit a place, I often remember the food better than anything else. This summer was no different. I explored far off places with dear friends and ate better than I have in a long time. I soaked in the espresso-scented landscape of mountains and water in the Pacific Northwest, gobbled up peanut butter by the sporkfuls while hiking the toughest miles on the Appalachian Trail, and cooked up fantastic meals with friends in the loveliest of kitchens.

My past summer food memories seem to be dominated by fruits. Summers in Beijing would not be complete without seeing big blue trucks parked along dirt roads with a huge pile of watermelons as their only cargo. My family and I would buy as many as we could stick in the fridge and take them out again as soon as they were chilled. If we had company, we'd cut them into slices, but if it was just us, we would just cut them into halves and dig in with big spoons. They were the best way to cool down. In New Delhi, the only good thing about walking around in 120F weather is coming home and finding cold mangos in the fridge. There is nothing in the world like ripe Indian mangoes.

Living in India has ruined me for mangoes anywhere else. But luckily, I still very much enjoy watermelons, which brings me to this salad. Seriously, this salad is amazing. I'm really sad to have discovered it so late in the summer (if it's still summer at all). I've only had it twice and it's already one of my favorites. It's so incredibly refreshing that I almost wish the oppressively hot weather with its air quality warnings would come back so I can enjoy the cooling effects of this salad to its maximum potential.



It's just watermelon, feta, and your choice of greens (I like spinach because its mildness doesn't take away from the other two main ingredients). The feta, which goes surprisingly well with watermelon, does a really good job of making the salad a little more substantial and adding another dimension of flavor. On top of everything, I used a simple and light vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, olive oil, shallots and salt.