Watermelon Tomato Salad with Cilantro & Jalapeño

Watermelon Tomato Salad with Cilantro & Jalapeño is a surprisingly well-balanced dish that is fresh and light, and perfect for summer!  Man, I love summer heat and fresh produce!

Life.  Am I right?  I have so many things going on right now that I don't even know what to tell you.  I guess there are 3 things I want to mention today.

I'm Moving

One quick conversation with one of Holley's best friends this week resulted in me deciding to move.  Nothing crazy, it's not one of those extreme moves across the planet to a new city to completely change my life.  Not the kind of totally life-changing moves that my parents both pulled off when they were young adults.  Not the kind of moves I've made in the past, bouncing around the province to start a new chapter in my life.

Actually, I'm only moving a couple blocks away.  Still close to the lake, now only a block away from one of the best farmer's markets in North America, and into a much larger kitchen that I am really excited to play in.

It's not an emotional move:  I'm not overly attached to my current apartment.  But I will have a roommate for the first time in 6 years.  I have to wear clothes in the kitchen now.  Oh em gee.  I have known for a while that I feel stagnant in my current space.  This little galley kitchen is a big part of it, and lighting and being stuck with my windows closed thanks to my neighbor who smokes at all hours of the night on his deck that is right next to my bedroom window, while coughing his nasty phlegmy cancer cough.  Almost as relaxing to listen to as my ocean sounds I use to sleep to.  Plus I'll be saving some cash.  And she has 3 great cats (yeah, I'm a cat-guy.  Actually I think that I myself am part cat).  So it seems like a no-brainer.  Oh, and there's a BBQ!!!

Long Weekend – Nature and Family Time

This last weekend was a long weekend here in Canada.  …or maybe just BC.  I dunno.  Anyway, my family got together at a lake where we had had cabin while I was growing up.  It's been over 20 years since I'd been out to this lake, so what we saw and what we remembered were a little different haha.  The weather wasn't awesome, but the nature was:  bald eagles, loons, ducks of different types, families of Canadian geese, deer, jumping fish, and a black fox with a white-tipped tail.

Watching my uber-cute nephews try fishing for the first time was so cool.  And how much fun is playing Lego (especially when the kids aren't getting in the way of your creations!)?  I love afternoon/evening game-times with some wobbly-pops and interesting conversations and stories.

I'm very sensitive to noise-pollution, especially when I'm in the outdoors.  It seems very difficult to get to places where you are actually free of man-made sounds: the hum of phone/electric lines, air traffic overhead, traffic/highway noise echoing through the valley, etc.  So I was very pleased to experience this nature “silence” again.  That peacefulness is a very powerful thing to me.  I need to find a place that is closer to my current home.  It's one of the reasons I miss kayaking so much.

Underground Restaurant

I might have mentioned a few weeks ago that Holley and I were going to put on a dinner for a few couples for the first time about a month ago.  Actually, that's what Holley created the Curry Rhubarb BBQ Sauce for.  Well, that was such a fun evening full of great new recipes, a lot of great wine, and some really fun people.  We're looking forward to doing something with this group and others in the future.  And you can look forward to more great recipes from that night over the next few weeks (just to tease you a bit, there are two delicious hummus recipes coming your way!).

This Watermelon Tomato Salad with Cilantro & Jalapeño was also made for that evening.  As soon as I saw these beautiful heirloom tomatoes, I knew I had to do something with them.  And based on the rest of the menu we needed something light, citrusy, and juicy.  While putting the ingredients together I had an idea of what I wanted in my head, and they came together really well… but when after an hour of everything marinating – daaaaaammmmnnn!  Yeah man, I dug this.  With or without the feta cheese, Watermelon Tomato Salad is a summertime winner.

Watermelon Tomato Salad with Cilantro & Jalapeño

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• Author: Raj - www.ThePrimalDesire.com
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
• Yield: 8 cups 1x

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Description

Watermelon Tomato Salad with Cilantro & Jalapeño is a surprisingly well balanced dish that is fresh and light, and perfect for summer!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 medium-large tomatoes of various types, or 4 cup equivalent (vary color and type of heirlooms as available)
• 1/2 mini watermelon, about 4 cups
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper (thinly sliced or diced)

dressing

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2.5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
• pinch salt

optional

• 1/2 cup feta cheese

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Instructions

1. Cut tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
2. Cut off watermelon rind then cut flesh into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes.
3. Stir tomatoes, watermelon and jalapeño peppers together.
4. Combine dressing ingredients together in a jar or some other seal-able container, and shake well.
5. Coat tomato and melon mixture with dressing and stir well.
6. Let sit for at least an hour before serving.
7. If using feta, wait until just before serving to sprinkle on-top.

• Prep Time: 10 min (plus 1 hour to marinate)
• Category: salad