Blueberry Watermelon Feta Mint Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Where did watermelon and feta come from? ›

This salad is inspired by a traditionally popular Egyptian summer snack. Eating watermelon and briny feta cheese in one dish is associated in my memory with hot summer nights in Alexandria-Egypt.

This summer salad is the perfect combination of flavors. Like my Strawberry Spinach Salad, it shows how delicious fruit can be in a savory salad. Juicy cubed watermelon pairs beautifully with cool cucumbers, fresh herbs, and, of course feta cheese. It's the perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Why does watermelon and feta taste good together? The salty feta with the crunchy sweet watermelon is a match made in heaven!! Add a small sprinkling of salt and you're in business.

Traditionally feta is made using sheep milk, but commonly, it can be made using sheep, goat or cow milk, or any combination of the three. Feta has a salty and pleasantly tangy taste. Texturally, it can range from firm and crumbly, to rich and creamy.

There are over 6000 different species of plants growing in the country, of which 15% are unique, a far higher proportion than many geographically larger nations. This biodiversity, when combined with traditional production methods, is a key reason for why true feta can only be made in Greece.

Mold: If you see any spots of greenish mold on the cheese, throw the whole block out. A yeasty aroma: “Yeasts tend to be acid and salt tolerant, which makes feta cheese a near perfect growth medium,” Sommer explained to me in an e-mail.

Feta cheese also has low fat content, due to which it can help in managing cholesterol levels and reducing the risk of heart disease. It contains moderate amounts of saturated fat, which may be a more heart-friendly option than high-fat cheeses.

Feta is easier to digest and much less allergenic and inflammatory than cheeses from cow's milk, which is encouraging to those of you who may be sensitive to dairy products. However, it's important to also remember that feta cheese, high in sodium and saturated fat, should be used sparingly, not every day.

Actually, watermelon contains vitamin C and when you eat milk products after it, they react with each other and cause bloating. In this way, they harm the digestive system and can cause indigestion. Consuming protein-rich foods after eating watermelon can be harmful for you.

Feta is a white crumbly cheese traditionally made of sheep's or goat's milk. It's cured and stored in brine (a solution of salt dissolved in water), but once opened, it can dry out or spoil quickly. To make it last longer, here's how to make your own brine.

What cheese goes well with watermelon? ›

Another classic combination of salty and sweet is watermelon and feta cheese. The merger of juicy and sweet melon chunks and cubes of pungent and salty feta cheese is perhaps the epitome of textural and flavor contrast.

These days you'll find endless salad recipes that combine feta and watermelon including Greek Watermelon Feta Salad, Persian Watermelon Salad, Lebanese Cheese and Watermelon Salad, Turkish Watermelon & Feta Salad and more.

Watermelons were domesticated in north-east Africa and cultivated in Egypt by 2000 BC, although they were not the sweet modern variety. Sweet dessert watermelons spread across the Mediterranean world during Roman times. Considerable breeding effort has developed disease-resistant varieties.

feta, fresh, white, soft or semisoft cheese of Greece, originally made exclusively from goat's or sheep's milk but in modern times containing cow's milk. Feta is not cooked or pressed but is cured briefly in a brine solution that adds a salty flavour to the sharp tang of goat's or sheep's milk.

The ancient Greek name for the watermelon was the pepon. Physicians, including Hippocrates and Dioscorides, praised its many healing properties. It was prescribed as a diuretic and as a way to treat children with heatstroke by placing the cool, wet rind on their heads.