Summer Salad Recipes

"Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so." Genesis 1:11

Refreshing Summer Tomato-Watermelon Salad

This salad combines two favorites of the summer garden. For an especially attractive plate, use a selection of height of the season heirloom tomatoes in various colors with juicy red and/or yellow watermelon.

Tip:

This is a great summer salad that combines crisp, sweet, juicy watermelon with the season's most flavorful tomatoes. If yellow watermelons such as 'Moon and Stars' or 'Yellow Buttercup' are available, try mixing them with read melons.

Instructions:

1. Core the tomatoes and cut them into wedges.

2. Cut the green skin off the watermelon, trimming away the rind and exposing the flesh. Cut the flesh into large dice

3. In a large salad bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, salt, black pepper to taste, and the cayenne pepper until a light emulsion forms. Add the watermelon, tomatoes, and onion and toss well. Add the parsley, taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and toss again before serving.

Ingredients:

• 6 vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes

• 2-1/2 pounds of seedless watermelon

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

• 1 teaspoon real salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper

• 1/2 cup Vidalia or other sweet onion, thinly sliced

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

If you like this recipe, you can find more in Sweet Home Café Cookbook.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CUL., 2018. Sweet home café cookbook: a celebration of African American cooking. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: SMITHSONIAN Books, p.20.