Watermelon & Feta: Mykonos-inspired recipes

In Greece, the flavor combination of watermelon with feta cheese has always been there, so it would hardly be considered a ‘best-kept secret’. One of my childhood memories is my grandmother’s idea of an afternoon snack: a slice of watermelon served with some feta cheese. As a child, however, I never liked the latter, so I would always eat just the watermelon (and leave the feta on the plate).

 

I had my first taste of a watermelon and feta salad a few years ago, when I visited the cosmopolitan island of Mykonos and had dinner at the restaurant ‘Lucky Fish’. It simply tasted of summer. The sweetness of the watermelon gave such a lift to the saltiness of the feta, the star ingredient of the world-famous Greek salad, which I had already started to appreciate by then. Yet, the combination of these two ingredients in a salad seemed to have escaped the attention not only of myself, but also of my fellow Greeks, anywhere except Mykonos.

 

 

Upon my return home, I set out to re-create this wonderful refreshing salad.

 

And here it is:

 

Mykonos-inspired watermelon and feta salad

 

Ingredients:

 

1. 200 grams iceberg lettuce
2. 200 grams watermelon chunks (I tend to buy them already cut)
3. 7-10 cherry tomatoes
4. 100 grams feta cheese, crumbled
5. Extra-virgin Greek olive oil, for the dressing
6. Balsamic cream (I prefer the orange and lemon, fig, and pomegranate balsamic creams by Kalamata Papadimitriou), for the dressing

 

Method:

 

Place the iceberg lettuce in a large salad bowl. Dress with extra-virgin Greek olive oil and balsamic cream. Add the watermelon chunks and the cherry tomatoes. Crumble the feta cheese and pour it over the salad. Stir gently to integrate the ingredients.

 

 

I’ve also decided to experiment and combine these two ingredients in a soup. Inspired by the Spanish gazpacho soup, this is my Greek take on this lovely summery soup:

 

Watermelon and feta gazpacho soup

 

Ingredients:

 

1. 400 grams watermelon chunks (I tend to buy them already cut)
2. 200 grams cherry tomatoes
3. Half a cucumber, peeled and chopped
4. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin Greek olive oil
5. 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
6. 100 grams feta cheese, crumbled
7. Croutons

 

Makes 2 servings

 

Method:

 

Blend all the ingredients except for the feta cheese in a food processor, until smooth. Place in a bowl, and refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve in a bowl, then pour over the crumbled feta cheese and a few croutons.

 

 

Kali Orexi! Bon Appétit!

 

Alex

 

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)

 

 

Further reading

 

To read my tips about Mykonos, read my post.

 

Featuring hundreds of recipes from all over Greece, Vefa Alexiadou’s Greece: The Cookbook is simply the bible of Greek cuisine.

 

Akis Petretzikis’ recipes are simple to make yet delicious to taste. His excellent website features hundreds of recipes and videos too.

 

Last but not least, to follow my travels around the world, simply subscribe to the Traveling Psychiatrist (just click on the menu on the left hand side).