We all know everything is better with salt and fat, but no two summer ingredients demonstrate this better than watermelon and tomatoes. Take a bite of tomato: it’s good. Now sprinkle some salt and drizzle some olive oil on top and try again: it’s very very good. Same goes for watermelon. Now swap that salt and oil for a piece of feta, which is of course both salty and fatty, and it’s music to your mouth.
When I started developing savory melon salads (the best side dish for any grilled food!) for our grilling issue this year, I knew there had to be a watermelon-feta salad. I brought tomatoes into the mix for all the reasons we just discussed, and because I liked the pink and red color combination. I added a turmeric-infused dressing to drizzle over the top to stain the bright white feta yellow (and add a pop of unexpected flavor).
To make the turmeric oil oil, I heat virgin coconut oil with lightly crushed peppercorns, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds as well as ground turmeric in a small saucepan over medium until fragrant, then I drizzle it all over a platter of cubed feta, tomatoes, and watermelon. It’s important to make sure the salad is room temperature before you do this—cold ingredients will make that coconut oil seize, like dipping an ice cream cone in a chocolate magic shell. The oil gives the salad some unexpected warmth, spice, and nuttiness, and of course I finish it off with an extra flourish of salt to make sure every flavor pops. It’s a whole new kind of watermelon-feta salad, and I’ll be making it all summer long, from the first baby sungolds to the last hefty heirlooms.
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