One of the best things about summer, besides long lazy days and warm evenings for leisurely walks; is the abundance of fantastic produce.  Juicy sweet peaches, nectarines, sun ripened tomatoes, all sorts of melons and berries so sweet they taste like sugar. Farmer’s markets are literally bursting at the seams with crates filled and with summer’s bounty.  The other day I came home with heirloom tomatoes with one thing on my mind, a recipe from my weekly NYT Cooking newsletter, Tomato Watermelon Salad with Feta Cheese.    When the kids are home, a watermelon lasts a day at most, cut and consumed just like that. Poof, gone.  But with just two of us at home, a creative twist is needed to help us finish an entire melon.  This salad is the perfect answer.  Juicy chunks of watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, slivers of red onion, salty feta cheese, a basil and a balsamic dressing, hmmm,  a perfect summertime salad.  Enjoy!

**Don’t FREAK Out!**  The recipe does not have actual measurments!  Its pretty fast and loose.  Use a ratio of 1:1 watermelon to tomatoes.  4:1 for the watermelon to cucumbers (1/4 amount of cucumbers) and 8:1 for the red onion.  Really its to your taste and the amount you make depends on how many you are are serving.  The vinagrette is probably enough for a salad composed of half of a watermelon and 6-8 tomatoes. Crumble as much or as little feta as you like, it provides a nice tang and saltiness to the salad.  Variations:  Use mint instead of basil or a combination of the two.  Green onions instead of red onions or ricotta salata instead of feta.

Adapted from the New York Times

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Summertime, summertime..Watermelon Tomato Salad

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Keyword watermelon

Ingredients

• 1 seedless watermelon cut into 1 inch cubes
• 4-6 ripe assortment of ripe tomatoes seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
• cucumbers peeled, seeded, cut into 1 inch pieces
• red onion diced or thinly sliced
• feta cheese of ricotta insalata crumbled
• basil julienned

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Combine watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a large bowl. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon kosher salt and mix. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile make the dressing. Pour vinegar into a small bowl, whisk oil into vinegar into emulsion forms. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Drain excess liquid from tomatoes and watermelon mixture. Add onions and julienned basil. Mix lightly. Crumble feta cheese on top of salad and drizzle with vinagrette. Serve.