Melon, Blueberry & Feta Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette ♥

A simple but special summer salad, watermelon balls and blueberries tossed in a gorgeous lime and honey vinaigrette. So summery!

Fresh & Seasonal. A Summer Classic. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Scales from Small Plates to Large Platters. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free.

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Two in a Row, Really?

What, a watermelon salad yesterday and now today another watermelon salad? on a food blog for vegetable recipes? Well ...

First of all, there are bite-size tomatoes tucked between the melon balls and blueberries. But more than that, watermelons are big, right? We need help using them up, we need watermelon recipes!

Plus when my dear friend Linda saw yesterday's recipe for watermelon, cucumber & feta salad, she sent along this one from her friend Linda, and I've got to say, it's a winner too. Thank you, Linda-s! (St. Louisans, you may know Linda #1, she's Linda Behrends, my food stylist/consultant friend. I later wrote about her with Deviled Eggs with Tomato-Herb Relish.)

Still, my taste isn't keen on the watermelon-tomato combination so from now on, I'm leaving out the tomatoes and recommend that you do too. (Update: I've since tried watermelon and tomato together again. Nope, still not to my taste. But you might feel differently? Learn for yourself!)

But I do l-o-v-e the addition of blueberries and would definitely substitute cantaloupe or honeydew for the tomatoes. And I did! Just look at this beauty, Melon Ball & Blueberry Salad! It's at Kitchen Parade, my food column.

Plus, the dressing is just gorgeous, tart with lime and sweet with honey, a keeper in its own right.

This watermelon salad is soo summery, perfect for a light supper during a string of 100+ hot days. And it's definitely a "fruit salad" where yesterday's was a "vegetable salad", even though both include watermelon.

KITCHEN TIPS This salad is a perfect example of why I keep four – yes four! – colanders close at hand. They're smallish (nine inches across, five deep), stack, go in the dishwasher top and bottom, cheap ($1 a piece from the grocery store many years ago but think the Dollar Store, too) and EVER so useful. Nearly every meal, I use a couple, but am surprised, myself, how often four are in action at once. Twice I've bought sets for foodie friends and definitely recommend thinking about having more than one for your own kitchen.

ST LOUIS NOTES The feta came from Goatsbeard Farm and was completely delicious. Goatsbeard can be found (says their brochure) at The Smokehouse, Wine & Cheese Place, Whole Foods and for me, at the wonderful mid-week farmers market in Maplewood just outside the Schlaffly Microbrewery. It's a festive time on Wednesday afternoons, 4 - 7, worth checking out! Because the feta was warm from the trip home, I learned how good feta is when it's at room temperature - worth making happen on purpose.

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MELON, BLUEBERRY & FETA SALAD

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

SALAD GREENS
Salad greens for four (arugula or a soft leafy lettuce, even baby spinach)

VINAIGRETTE (plenty for four servings, enough for both the Fruit and Salad Greens)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)
Tabasco to taste (don't skip this, it makes the dressing!)
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons good olive oil (or more to taste)

FRUIT
Watermelon balls (about 2 cups but use your own judgment, of course)
Cantaloupe or honeydew balls (about 2 cups)
Blueberries (about a cup)
Cherry or grape tomatoes (about a cup, not recommended but if you do use them, halve or quarter to match texture with the watermelon)
Half the Vinaigrette

TO FINISH!
Salad Greens
Remaining Vinaigrette
Fruit
2 ounces feta, crumbled, preferably at room temperature

SALAD GREENS Wash the greens and let drain/dry while continuing.

VINAIGRETTE In a bowl large enough to hold the whole salad, whisk the lime juice, honey, tabasco, salt & pepper. Now – if you want to limit the oil – taste the dressing, then add oil a tablespoon at a time, tasting after each addition, until it tastes good to you. I like my dressing on the sharp side but not everyone does. This one's so full of flavor, for example, that it was easy to go light on the oil. That said, there's definitely something special about the "glisten" and "glow" of really good olive oil on the fruit and on the greens. Set aside half the Vinaigrette for the Salad Greens.

FRUIT Prep the melon balls and tomatoes, dropping them into the remaining Vinaigrette to soak. Gently toss the Fruit with about half the dressing.

FINISH! Dress the Salad Greens with the remaining Vinaigrette and arrange the Greens on a serving plate or individual plates. Top the Greens with the Fruit, then with the crumbled feta. Serve immediately!

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
With a full five cups of Fruit (and up to six cups Fruit for those who include tomatoes), 4 servings makes for generous serving sizes, more than a cup per person. Especially with a larger meal, this salad can easily serve more.
Does honey get extra thick in the cupboard? It sure does. To make honey easier to pour, warm the honey jar in the microwave 10 seconds at a time, jut long enough to warm it up to pour easily.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving, assumes 4: 183 Calories; 7g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 26mg Sodium; 31g Carb; 3g Fiber; 26g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 5 & SmartPoints 9 & Freestyle 4

SHORTHAND RECIPE
MELON, BLUEBERRY, FETA SALAD 2c watermelon, 2c cantaloupe, 1c blueberry, 2oz feta DRESSING 1/3c lime, 2T honey, 2TEVOO, Tabasco, S&P, 4=FS4

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MORE FAVORITE MELON RECIPES

~ Watermelon, Cucumber & Feta Salad ~
~ Watermelon & Celery Salad with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette ~
~ Arugula with Peaches, Concord Grapes and Feta ~
~ more vegetable recipes with fruit ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Melon Ball & Blueberry Salad ~
~ Cantaloupe-Tomato Gazpacho ~
~ Cold & Creamy Cantaloupe Soup ~
~ One Quick Tip: The Magic of Watermelon Wedges ~
~ more melon recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

SEASONAL EATING During the Height of Summer's Fresh Produce

Tomato & Zucchini Salad (< so many favorites this week, there's no picking just one!) Quick Broccoli Soup with Chive Oil For Instance Technique V (raw veggies with Italian dressing) Broccoli, Pepper & Celery Salad Corn Cayenne Tomato Ginger Jam (< another favorite!) Quick Microwave Sweet Corn Summer Tomatoes for Winter Greek Greens (Flash Cook to Eat Later) (< and another!) Mom’s Potato Salad (< and another!) “Lost Recipes” Classic Coleslaw with Boiled Dressing Dear Anonymous: THIS Is Why We Blog Ripe-Tomato Relish with Peaches & Pears (Sharon's Pickle) (< and still another!) Watermelon, Cucumber & Feta Salad Melon, Blueberry & Feta Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette Caponata – Sicilian Eggplant (< and yet another!) Raw Corn Chowder (< and one more!) Julia Child's Cucumber Salad Israeli Couscous Salad with Yellow Squash & Sun-Dried Tomatoes Summer's Best Corn Chowder (< no missing this one!) Garden Eggs "Benedict" Spiral Zucchini Noodle Salad with Homemade Catalina Dressing Warm Caprese Bites Turkish Cucumber-Tomato-Olive Chopped Salad with Sumac

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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