It’s the last week of August and the weather here in Geneva, Switzerland is unseasonably hot. Yesterday, it was 32°C and today it’s the same: hot and sunny. But I’m not complaining. I love summer! However, it does feel, like I said above, unseasonably hot.

Yesterday evening, my husband John and I were invited to a dinner party and, as Canadian tradition goes, I wanted to bring something simple yet, delicious. I looked in the fridge and found two watermelons – a red and a yellow one. I thought: It’s hot, it’s sunny, I was at work today, I’m jetlagged from a recent trip and I’ve got WATERMELONS. Why not make a refreshing watermelon salad? So I did and it was a hit.

I made this salad off the top of my head and it took me no more than twenty minutes to put it all together. Chop, chop and it was ready to go. This refreshing salad is great as a side dish or a light meal with crusty bread. Goes to say, the best dishes are often the least complicated ones.

You can view the salad in the slider images below.

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Serves: 8-10 (as a side dish)

Level: easy

Watermelon salad

• About 3-4 cups fresh watermelon, cubed (I used a mix of red and yellow, but if you can’t get yellow, the red will do)
• 1 English cucumber with peel, chopped in chunky bite size pieces
• 1 green onion, sliced thin
• 1 avocado – not too ripe, but not too firm, cubed
• A bunch of fresh coriander and parsley leaves, chopped small
• A small handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped small
• Fresh lime juice from 2 green limes
• 1 jar (270 grams) of artichoke hearts in oil, drained but NOT pat dried (they should be a little oily) and sliced thin
• Pink Himalayan salt
• Feta cheese, crumbled – to sprinkle on top of individual servings (vegan friendly!) or add directly in large salad bowl

Put watermelon, cucumber, onion and avocado in a salad bowl. Mix gently trying not to crush the watermelon or avocado cubes. Add the coriander, parsley and mint. Fold gently. Add lime juice and artichoke hearts. Here the little bit of oil on the artichokes will blend with the lime juice and the juice of the other ingredients and create its own vinaigrette. Add salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with crumbled feta cheese.

Bon appétit!