Also during the hottest summer days you should and have to eat tasty and healthy food. On the one hand, you don't need that many calories because you don't have to rush around all the time in that heat. In addition, your body also has to work less to stay at the right temperature. On the other hand, your liquid consumption is much higher, so you have to see that you are getting enough fluids. That is why this summer watermelon strawberry salad is the ideal dish for the dog days: tasty, lots of moisture and only few calories.
Summer watermelon strawberry salad
Ingredients
- 300 gram watermelon cubes
- 200 gram strawberries
- 75 gram arugula salad
- 75 gram goat cheese
- 15 gram pine nuts
- 50 ml balsamic vinegar
- 50 ml honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fresh mint for garnishing
Instructions
For the balsamic syrup
- Mix the balsamic vinegar and the honey. Bring to boil and let it reduce for a few minutes. Put it aside to cool down.
Preparing the salad
- Cut the watermelon into cubes and slice the strawberries.
- Also cut the arugula salad and mix it with olive oil.
- Roast the pine nuts for a few minutes. Until they become golden brown and fragrant.
- Crumble or cut the goat cheese, depending on the consistency you have.
- Add the watermelon, strawberries, pine nuts and goat cheese in a bowl and mix everything well.
- Serve on plates and garnish with some mint and the balsamic syrup.
Nutrition
About summer watermelon strawberry salad
The original idea for this summer watermelon strawberry salad originates from a blog, insolence and wine, that specializes in food and wine pairings. So let us start with the wine recommendation to go along with this salad. And that is a cool rosé that matches well with the red colors of this dish.
The most surprising seasoning for this summer watermelon strawberry salad is probably the balsamic honey syrup. It is very easy to make by mixing equal parts of balsamic vinegar and honey. You just have to heat it to make both combine and then let is cool down. And already you have the most delicious syrup that fits to this salad.
A major advantage of this salad is that the quantities do not need to be an exact match. You may want to use more watermelon and/or strawberries, depending on what you have at home.
The arugula salad creates a tasty counterpart for the sweeter and softer taste of the fruits. I like this kind of contrast and will certainly not reduce on arugula.
The goat cheese and the pine nuts complete the extraordinary flavor of the summer salad. The goat cheese brings some creaminess to your mouth. The pine nuts on the other hand provide a nice bite to this salad. So you have a lot of consistencies and flavors playing in your mouth while enjoying this salad.
If you don't like goat cheese, you may use feta or any other hard white cheese as an alternative.
Watermelons are usually very big. So most probably you have quite a lot leftover. Maybe you can make this delicious summer watermelon gazpacho with it.
More surprising.strawberry
I have a special connection with strawberries. My roots are in the most famous region in Belgium for growing strawberries. As a student I have been working in the strawberry fields. So no wonder that we can also offer some surprising recipes with strawberries:
More surprising.salad
The hot summers are becoming more and more challenging. So what should you eat during those annoyingly hot days? You don't want to sweat in the kitchen for hours. But of course you need tasty and healthy food every day. That's why some extra recipe ideas to bridge this period:
- Goat cheese mango salad with saffron syrup.
- Summer lunch with chicken and croutons.
- Zucchini pasta with cheddar sauce.
- Sicilian tuna pasta with fried capers.
- Roasted yellow bell pepper with tuna.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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