June 16, 2021

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Your grill isn’t just for hamburgers; it’s also for watermelon, folks!

Grilling thick slabs of watermelon smells like you’re making candy on your grill. The taste, however, is very slight. I really only taste the caramelized parts directly on the grill lines, but the texture is what I love so much. By grilling both sides, the watermelon gets almost compacted in a way, and I just love it as this bright summer salad topping.

I’ve made this Grilled Watermelon Salad several times as it’s pictured here in this blog post, individually plated, but I think it’d also be great as large platter salad as a center piece at a 4^th of July cookout, with serving tongs and tiny plates.

However you serve it, and for however many, I hope you’ll try it!

Grilled Watermelon Salad

You’ll Need:

(Quantities are for 4 individual salads)

1 2-inch-thick slice of a watermelon*, quartered
12 large grape or small Roma tomatoes (or 2 tomatoes each sliced into 6 wedges)
4 Tbs olive oil
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
The juice from ½ a lemon
¼ – ½ tsp black pepper, depending on taste
¼ – ½ tsp coarse, Maldon salt, depending on taste (I used a mixture of Maldon and Celtic Sea salts.)
1 sprig of lettuce leaf basil
1 sprig of Opal or Thai basil
6oz (160g) lettuce of your choice (I used Red Oak Leaf Mesclun lettuce from my garden 🙂 ** ), that’s 1.5oz (40g) per person, or about 4 large leaves per person
1-2 oz. (28g) fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed small***
1-2 oz. (56g) brie cheese, cubed small***
More Maldon or Celtic Sea salt for garnish

*Here’s a tip! Don’t necessarily toss out the white rind of the watermelon. You can cube it and store it in the freezer and add it to things such as my _The_ Breakfast Smoothie. My super-fancy moisture-retaining lotion that I use to survive in this dry climate contains watermelon rind and watermelon white extract, but those two things are also edible, so maybe don’t toss all of it. I’ve seen a few articles that claim that those white rind parts may also help lower blood pressure. So tuck them away and sneak them into your smoothies!

**Now I just have to share some pictures from the lettuce in my garden this year! It’s done really well! We use row covers over our spinach and lettuce, and while the covers blow away and get tattered in the wind and I have to sometimes hunt down where the clips have blown, they’re constant maintenance, but since we also have irrigation drippers on timers in our rows, the lettuces and spinach do really well, despite the 107˚F days and despite the bunnies and the deer that regularly pass through our yard, all because of these ugly row covers. I’m sharing this bit, because I kind of sadly chuckle to myself as I go out to pick a giant head of sweet, not-too-bitter lettuce every single day for lunch and dinner, because Kevin was reprimanded for spreading misinformation on a Moab home garden Facebook group for telling people that we’ve had years of success with these row covers. So I’ll share the results here, and let you be the judge!

***You can absolutely substitute any of your favorite cheeses or whatever cheeses you have on hand. Feta would be really nice, both for taste and texture. Keep in mind that the lettuce may be bitter, the watermelon will be sweet, and you’ll also have salt, lemon juice and vinegar flavors all in here, so I’d stick with a mild or sweet white cheese that cubes or crumbles well.

Start by rinsing all your bits. (I even rinse off the watermelon before I slice into it.)

Preheat your grill to medium-high (about 450˚F).

Slice a 2-inch-thick slice, smack dab out of the middle of your watermelon. Quarter it, then cut off the rind.

When your grill is heated, grill your watermelon slices for about 3 minutes each side. Remove to a plate and set aside briefly.

In a small bowl, mix together the 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, the juice from half a lemon, and ¼ to ½ teaspoon of both ground black pepper and a mixture of flaky Maldon salt and Celtic sea salt (or your favorite sea salt). Whisk everything together to combine.

Slice your tomatoes in half, then toss to coat in the bowl of dressing you’ve just made. Set aside to marinate for just a few minutes.

Chiffonade your two types of basil. To chiffonade, pluck all the leaves from the stems and stack them on top of one another, then roll them into a small log. Slice the log into wispy strips. Set the sliced basil aside.

Cube your cheeses into tiny cubes. Set aside. (If using a crumbling cheese, you can just crumble directly onto the salad later in a few steps.)

Chop your lettuce into big, bite-sized, fork-able chunks, and go ahead and arrange them on plates (or a platter).

Dice each watermelon quarter into 1 to 1 ½ – inch chunks and arrange them on the bed of lettuce.

Sprinkle evenly with cheeses.

Spread the tomatoes on top and throughout, and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of the dressing, being sure to get some of the lettuce, grilled watermelon as well as the tomatoes again.

Garnish with hearty portions of basil and sprinkle any exposed watermelon slices with a touch more Celtic and Maldon salts.

I served it with some fancy crackers and my Simple [Dare I say, Perfect,] Grilled Chicken Breasts. It’s been 105˚-107˚F these days here in Moab, so I cannot tell you how much this made for a great summer meal!