The melon mosaic is everything I want on a plate in summer.
Seriously, I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It’s light and refreshing on a super hot day. It’s easy to serve to friends and family (… if we can ever see them again) and the combination of melon + cheese tastes wonderful. And it’s a great starter “salad” for a heartier dish and it’s also a really delish lunch if you aren’t in the mood for something more filling.
I used to make a version of this salad all the time back when Max was two years old. He actually loved it because he could pick up the chunks and eat them. He also loved playing melon tetris with the cubes and it was so cute. I actually forgot about that until I made this last week and Emilia started grabbing for bites.
She loves spicy stuff, so she even went in with the hot honey. How is she my child?! It’s amazing.
In the past, I also made this melon mozzarella salad with watermelon and cucumber. I love using the cucumber instead of the honeydew. It’s unexpected, a little more savory and refreshing and adds a pop of freshness without the sweet.
For this version, I threw in some avocado, huge feta chunks and cherry tomatoes!
The dressing is simple and amazing. Lemon, hot honey, champagne vinegar – all flavors that I love so much. Tons of herbs like fresh mint and basil and get showered all over the salad taking the flavor up another notch. It’s no secret I’m obsessed with hot honey. I usually make my own but you can even buy it now!
It’s easy. Almost embarrassingly so.
But the flavors together are JUST SO GOOD.
The other great thing?! You can make this ahead of time and marinate it all. I actually threw the chunks in a bag to marinate them with the dressing while testing this. It also makes it easily transportable! I would just skip the avocado and add it once you’re ready to serve the whole thing.
Definitely considering making a small batch melon mosaic for lunch every week.
Melon Mosaic with Hot Honey Vinaigrette
Yield: 4 to 6 people (or more, depending on how many dishes you serve!)
My favorite summer salad treat! This melon mosaic is refreshing and an easy salad to make. Drizzle with hot honey vinaigrette and you’re good to go!
- 2 cups watermelon cubes
- 2 cups cantaloupe cubes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 to 2 seedless cucumbers, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 to 2 avocados, chopped
- 1 8 ounce block feta, cut into cubes
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, like mint, basil and chives
hot honey vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons hot honey
- 1 garlic clove, freshly grated
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
If you’re chopping everything yourself, be sure to chop the cubes roughly the same size. If you’re buying something pre-chopped, use that as the guide to size and chop everything else to size. Use the most of what you love! For instance, I like to use watermelon and cantaloupe the most, then cucumber, then fill in with avocado and tomato.
As a note, you can also crumble the feta or do smaller cubes. You can also leave the cherry tomatoes whole and not slice them.
Assemble the cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumber and feta cubes on a dish. Make the dressing as directed. Chop the tomatoes and the avocado, stick them in between a few of the cubes. There is no right way to do this! You can throw everything in a bowl, spread it out on a plate or layer it. Whatever you’d like.
Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the dressing and cover with the fresh herbs. Serve!
Leftovers of this are delicious.
hot honey vinaigrette
Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, hot honey, garlic, salt and pepper until combined. Stream in the olive oil while whisking the entire time. This dressing stays great in the fridge for up to a week.
Bonus points for colorful food!
