Taste the season with this watermelon and gorgonzola salad

July 3, 2024 Jonathan Bardzik 2 min read

Using two ingredients that are entering peak season right now — watermelon and arugula — here is a refreshing side dish for picnics and cookouts.

This simple and colorful salad makes for a great appetizer, light side dish, or a quick and healthy lunch on its own. It is easy to make and best served soon after assembling.

Watermelon is the perfect summer ingredient because it is more than 90% water and contains rehydration salts like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. It also has vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamin A, plus plant compounds that may help lower blood pressure, improve circulation, and reduce muscle soreness. And did you know, it contains powerful antioxidants which protect against oxidative stress.

Watermelon Gorgonzola Salad

Serves 6

Sweet watermelon, bright peppery arugula and creamy, funky bleu cheese balance perfectly in this refreshing, thirst-quenching salad that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Ingredients:

6 cups watermelon, preferably seedless, cut in 1″ cubes

2 cups baby arugula, loosely packed

1 shallot, minced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

2/3 cups olive oil—the good stuff!

1 cup chilled, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions:

Toss together watermelon and arugula in a large bowl
In a separate bowl, whisk together shallot, vinegar and honey
While whisking, drizzle oil into vinegar mixture to form a creamy emulsion
Stir crumbles of Gorgonzola into vinaigrette until creamy and taste with a cube of watermelon
Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, vinegar or oil and lightly dress watermelon and arugula

Seasons to Taste: Farm-Fresh Joy for Kitchen and Table is a four-season celebration of farm and garden-fresh ingredients and the people — friends, family and farmers — that cooking and sharing delicious food brings together.

With 320 pages and 127 recipes, Seasons to Taste shares simple recipes, each with a photograph, tips for getting it right the first time, with stories about ingredients, techniques and very special people. The book is organized by season making it easy to find the perfect recipe for the fresh ingredients from your garden, farm market or farm share.