Last Friday night I did something I haven’t done in a while…I actually picked up a magazine (in this case Martha Stewart Living) and read it cover to cover. And I’ve decided I should do that more often because I was inspired to make a fabulous dinner on Sunday night. Of course, by the end of preparing all the food my sciatic nerve was literally screaming at me and I hobbled around the rest of the night (yes, I’m officially a hobbling pregnant woman…no more heels for me, boo-hoo!), but our dinner was worth the pain.

One of Sunday night’s creations was a Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Cucumber. There was a recipe for this salad featured in the magazine that involved making a fancy basil oil. I’m sure it’s wonderful, but I simplified things a bit in my preparation. I loved the salad – super easy to prepare and the oh-so-summery flavors all blended so nicely together. I wasn’t entirely sure what the girls would think. They love watermelon, and this savory twist on a favorite fruit seemed a bit risky. But I’ll tell you what…every person in the family happily gobbled down the salad! It was a great success! Will definitely be adding this salad to the rotation, at least during the summer when all of these lovely ingredients are fresh and in season!

Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Cucumber

 

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Adapted from a recipe in the August 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living

Author: Jane Maynard

Cuisine: Side Dish

Ingredients

• Half a watermelon, cubed (I know, so exact”¦my watermelon was medium in size)
• 2-3 handfuls of small tomatoes, or 2-3 larger tomatoes sliced into wedges (I used a bunch of baby tomatoes we have growing on the back porch)
• One cucumber, chopped into bite sized pieces
• Olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons)
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Basil, about 5-10 leaves chopped
• Original recipe calls for 4 oz crumbled goat cheese – I left this out because we were having another cheese-based side dish, but also I just wanted straight up produce in the salad. Commenter Jennifer below mentioned using Ricotta Salata instead of goat cheese and that is what I'm going to use from now on!

Instructions

1. Combine the watermelon, tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to cover the fruit and veggies. Sprinkle with the chopped basil, about ½ tsp salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat evenly and serve!

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These cucumber sandwiches are one of my sister-in-law Cora’s favorite recipes, so we made them for her baby shower last week. They were mighty delicious and very easy to throw together, so thought I better share the recipe with you! Great for parties, and nice and light in the summertime.

Featured Recipe: Cucumber Sandwiches

 

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From Cora Wallin

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Sandwiches

Ingredients

• Sliced cucumbers (pretty thin, with skins ON)
• Cream cheese
• Package powdered italian dressing mix
• Bit of milk – about 1 Tbsp
• Party-sized pumpernickel (I just learned about this bread – they come small and square like this, in the bread section at the store”¦the brand we bought was called Wild’s Party Pumpernickel)
• Dill (dried is fine)

Instructions

1. Soften cream cheese at room temp, mix in salad dressing mix and enough milk to make the cheese spreadable. Spread on bread, top with sliced cucumber. Sprinkle with dill. Voila!

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