Melon Salad with Feta and Basil

Melon Salad with Feta and Basil combines refreshing summer watermelon and cantaloupe with a light and mildly tangy dressing, red onion slivers, feta, and fresh basil.  It’s easy, healthy, and the perfect appetizer or lunch salad to cool off with on hot summer days!

Summer is finally in full swing. Halleluyah!

I couldn’t share this yummy summer salad with you sooner because the BF finally came back home after 214 days of deployment.  Do I really need to say how excited I was?  How excited I still am?  It’s exciting, folks.  SO. EXCITING.  Needless to say, I hope you understand why I’ve been a little preoccupied over the past week.  But I’m back, and so excited to share this with you!

Summer means watermelons, cantaloupes, and all those other delicious fruits are at their best right now (like peaches!).  I couldn’t be happier (for so many, many reasons this summer).

I’m usually a traditionalist and eat my watermelon and cantaloupe as-is; sometimes I live on the edge and eat them in wedges instead of chopped bite-sized pieces.  I know, you’re probably wondering what the heck this food blogger is doing being a food blogger if she doesn’t ever decide to do anything more exciting with watermelon and cantaloupes?

I’m happy to say the tides are turning, and I’m mixing up life a bit.

I’ve seen variations of watermelon salads floating around here on the interwebs and knew I wanted to try to put my own spin on it.  If not only for the sake of breaking out of my boring (yet absolutely delicious) habit of eating fruit straight up.  But also because each variation I saw looked so refreshing and summery!

And so much better than a boring old salad when I needed to dial up the healthy.

So when my mom came to visit for a long weekend over the 4th, I knew it was the perfect time to give a watermelon salad my own spin.

We made a trip to the fresh produce stand (because where else would you want to get summer-fresh fruits?) and hadn’t really intended on including the cantaloupe in our salad.  Guys – I’m so glad we did.

The watermelon and cantaloupe combination gave the salad more texture, mixed up the flavors, and downright just made it yummy.

I love the little bits of onion to add a crunch and the little bit of savory, balanced with just a taste of the light and tangy dressing, and bits of feta.  The basil!  FRESH FROM MY GARDEN.  Ok, so maybe not garden, but my mom and I did fulfill a “dream” of mine to finally start growing some goodness myself.  We got a basil plant and a few others, planted them, and I’ve been reaping the benefits ever since.  Because seriously, is there anything better than fresh basil?  I think not.

This salad is so refreshing, light, healthy – and EASY!  Can you even argue with that?

It’s especially easy if you’ve already pre-cut the melons and just have to throw it together. 😉

How else do you use all this lovely fresh summer melon?! I’d love to hear, because I can’t get enough!

Melon Salad with Feta and Basil

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• Author: Fork in the Kitchen
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Yield: 8-10
• Category: Salad

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Description

Melon Salad with Feta and Basil combines refreshing summer watermelon and cantaloupe with a light and mildly tangy dressing, red onion slivers, feta, and fresh basil. It’s easy, healthy, and the perfect appetizer or lunch salad to cool off with on hot summer days!

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Ingredients

SALAD:

• 4 cups watermelon, cubed into 1 inch pieces
• 4 cups cantaloupe, cubed into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade (thinly sliced)
• 1/3 cup feta

DRESSING:

• 1 Tablespoon lime juice (approximately half of a lime)
• Dash of red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

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Instructions

1. Add cubed watermelon, cubed cantaloupe, red onion, basil, and feta to a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, add fresh lime juice, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking. Pour over melon mixture and stir to combine.
3. Top with additional feta and basil if desired.

Notes

If you’d like to make a smaller portion, just make sure you have equal parts watermelon and cantaloupe.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts if you try out this Melon Salad with Feta and Basil!  Tag Fork in the Kitchen on Facebook or #forkinthekitchen on Instagram to share!