Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad

I have to thank Nina from the wonderful Sweet Napa for tipping me off to this very refreshing Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer. This is the perfect summer salad, easy, impressively tasty, and attractive.

I really couldn't imagine how this combination would taste. I liked all the ingredients, but the combination was counterintuitive to me. I have to say I loved this salad and will be enjoying this a great deal this summer! The combination of clean watermelon, creamy and tangy feta, the fresh bite of mint, and bright lime juice was a fabulous mouthful of flavor and texture.

In addition to the main items, there's a little red onion, soaked in lime juice, chopped mint (essential), and flat leaf parsley. The original recipe was for 8, so I made a small batch and used my own judgment on the quantities (approximated below). The original recipe called for olive oil, which I skipped completely. Use the firmest sweet watermelon you can find to make sure it holds its triangular shape. I only had crumbled feta (which worked for me), but the recipe calls for triangles of firm feta, about the same size as the watermelon. If you don't like olives, I think this salad would be delicious without them too.

Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (adapted from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer):

2 lbs watermelon, rind removed and cut into triangles
1/3 red spring onion, finely chopped (Nigella suggests thin half moon shapes)
Juice of 1 lime
2 oz feta, crumbled or cut into triangles
1-2 tbsp mint, finely chopped
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, torn
handful of pitted black olives

Soak the red onion in the lime juice and set aside. Combine the melon, feta, and mint in a large bowl. Add the onion with lime juice, the parsley, and the olives and toss ever so gently. You're done!