Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA SUMMERIntroduction
As improbable as it might sound, this combination is utterly fantastic, both savoury and refreshing at the same time. You can pare it down to the essential contrast, and serve no more than a plate of chunked watermelon, sprinkled with feta and mint and spritzed with lime, but this full-length version is hardly troublesome to make and once made will, I assure you, become a regular feature of your table.
And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
As improbable as it might sound, this combination is utterly fantastic, both savoury and refreshing at the same time. You can pare it down to the essential contrast, and serve no more than a plate of chunked watermelon, sprinkled with feta and mint and spritzed with lime, but this full-length version is hardly troublesome to make and once made will, I assure you, become a regular feature of your table.
And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 8
- 1 small red onion
- 4 limes
- 1½ kilograms watermelon (sweet and ripe)
- 250 grams feta cheese
- 1 bunch fresh flatleaf parsley
- 1 bunch fresh mint (chopped)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 100 grams pitted black olives
- black pepper
- 1 small red onion
- 4 limes
- 3¼ pounds watermelon (sweet and ripe)
- 8 ounces feta cheese
- 1 bunch fresh italian parsley
- 1 bunch fresh mint (chopped)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅔ cup pitted black olives
- black pepper
Method
- Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half-moons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice, to bring out the transparent pinkness in the onions and diminish their rasp. Two limes' worth should do it, but you can find the fruits disappointingly dried up and barren when you cut them in half, in which case add more.
- Remove the rind and pips from the watermelon, and cut into approximately 4cm / 1½ inch triangular chunks, if that makes sense (maths is not my strong point). Cut the feta into similar sized pieces and put them both into a large, wide shallow bowl. Tear off sprigs of parsley so that it is used like a salad leaf, rather than a garnish, and add to the bowl along with the chopped mint.
- Tip the now glowingly puce onions, along with their pink juices over the salad in the bowl, add the oil and olives, then using your hands toss the salad very gently so that the feta and melon don't lose their shape. Add a good grinding of black pepper and taste to see whether the dressing needs more lime. Hava Negila! The taste of Tel Aviv sunshine!
- Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half-moons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice, to bring out the transparent pinkness in the onions and diminish their rasp. Two limes' worth should do it, but you can find the fruits disappointingly dried up and barren when you cut them in half, in which case add more.
- Remove the rind and pips from the watermelon, and cut into approximately 4cm / 1½ inch triangular chunks, if that makes sense (maths is not my strong point). Cut the feta into similar sized pieces and put them both into a large, wide shallow bowl. Tear off sprigs of parsley so that it is used like a salad leaf, rather than a garnish, and add to the bowl along with the chopped mint.
- Tip the now glowingly puce onions, along with their pink juices over the salad in the bowl, add the oil and olives, then using your hands toss the salad very gently so that the feta and melon don't lose their shape. Add a good grinding of black pepper and taste to see whether the dressing needs more lime. Hava Negila! The taste of Tel Aviv sunshine!
Additional Information
For vegetarians make sure the feta is one that uses vegetarian rennet.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
It is not advisable to make ahead or store.
For vegetarians make sure the feta is one that uses vegetarian rennet.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
It is not advisable to make ahead or store.
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Show more commentsThis recipe is top notch, so delicious, refreshing, with all those flavors working so well together. But the biggest thanks goes for the tip you start the recipe with: "Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half-moons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice, to bring out the transparent pinkness in the onions and diminish their rasp." Yay! I did the same thing with the lemon juice, and it worked well. I can finally eat onions again! I liked them so much, but couldn't eat them because the fresh ones caused problems for my stomach. And you solved it! So, thank you very, very much, Nigella!
This salad is perfect on a hot, summer’s day. Wonderful blend of flavours. Bravo!
This is an incredible salad! Its sour, salty, and fresh herbal flavors make it the perfect thing to serve in hot weather. For a perfect summer evening, follow this salad with the lemon creams and shortbread cookies from How to Eat!
This is an all time favourite, thank you Nigella, always a hit with everyone!
Absolutely my favourite hot-weather salad! I've been making it for years. Warning: one very little girl got a shock when she got a mouthful of watermelon with the lime dressing. She thought I was tricking her! I luckily had some untouched watermelon in the fridge to slice for her.
I love this salad. First made it for my English mother, who came to Australia as a child but alway had a full English Christmas lunch despite the heat. She mentioned that all she wanted as a child was sausages and watermelon at Christmas. Thank you for the perfect way to grant her childhood Christmas wish. It is now a firm favourite- especially for the Sydney summer Christmas table.
The best salad ever! Everyone I've made it for absolutely adores it, despite the combination, which seems odd, but then you try it and it's a taste sensation! What I do different is use lemon instead of limes to keep it more Mediterranean and add a little sugar and salt to the onions for a pickle vibe. I also add cucumber and purslane that grows in my garden to the salad.
A favorite in our household
I love, love this recipe. Did not have parsley, which I did not think it was the best kind of herb for this, and I used instead chopped sage and mint. The mint is absolutely great due to its wonderful aroma. I also loved the macerated red onion slices in lime juice. I had some left and used them on a baby kale salad and it was delicious.
Love this salad - have been making it since you first published it in Nigella Summer!
One of my favorites but I add cucumber, awesome.
I make this salad for a summer party and everyone just kind of looks at me funny. And then they try it! It's always a huge hit. I'm of the more parsley/less mint school, but other than that, just do what Nigella tells you to do.