Melon in a salad is no longer an exotic, but a very popular phenomenon. Since she is a relative of the cucumber, why not? Melon goes well with meat and poultry, makes wonderful friends with cheese and eggs, acquires a pleasant taste from bright spices and comes out simply amazing in sweet dishes. Prepare dessert and snack salads with melon?
Melon Salad - General Cooking Principles
You can take absolutely any melon for salads. Of course, it will turn out much tastier with a ripe and aromatic vegetable (yes, it is a vegetable). But if it is too soft, then the pieces will not keep their shape, when stirred, they will be washed, the salad will look like an incomprehensible mess.
Sweet salads with melon allow you to use all kinds of fruits and berries, they often add nuts, dried fruits. Yoghurts, juices, sour cream, and cream are used as dressing. Melon goes well with ice cream. Small balls can complement any dessert.
What is added to melon eateries:
• ham, meat and poultry;
• seafood;
• cheese, feta cheese, eggs;
• vegetables, greens.
As a dressing, olive oil is mainly used, but sometimes there are options with mayonnaise. Multiple sauces are very popular. Usually they are made from butter with lemon juice, mustard, honey. All kinds of nuts and seeds are actively added to snack salads. Mint. By the way, instead of fresh herbs, you can take dried leaves.
Melon and chicken salad
One of the most famous melon salad options. Someone once tried to replace pineapple with it, and it turned out no worse than the world famous snack.
Ingredients
• 200 g of melon pulp;
• 3 eggs;
• 300 g fillet;
• 140 g of mayonnaise;
• 2 tbsp. l nuts
• spices;
• 80 g of cheese.
Cooking
1. Put the fillet in a pan with water for flavor, throw a couple of peppercorns, add laurel, cook until tender, but not more than 25 minutes. If a leg is used, then cook until soft.
2. In another saucepan, boil hard-boiled chicken eggs.
3. Cool the fillets and eggs, cut into small cubes, but do not mix.
4. In the fillet, add a full spoonful of mayonnaise, pepper, stir and put on the bottom of the salad bowl. This salad can also be collected on a flat dish, but in deep dishes it is better soaked.
5. Dice the peeled melon pulp into cubes and lay on top of the chicken fillet. Do not lubricate this layer.
6. Sliced eggs slightly seasoned with salt, pepper, season with grated cheese, it is used a little here, stir and spread on a melon.
7. Pour this layer abundantly with mayonnaise. We spread everything that remains.
8. It is better to fry walnuts in advance, the aroma will be better. Cut into slices, sprinkle salad.
Salad with melon, feta cheese and tomatoes
Another wonderful version of a cold unsweetened salad with melon. For its preparation, it is desirable to use cheese and other similar brine cheeses.
Ingredients
• 300 g of melon pulp;
• large tomato;
• 50 g of olives;
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil;
• 120 g of feta cheese;
• 0.3 lemons;
• 50 g of walnuts;
• 1 tsp honey;
• salt and pepper;
• 0.5 tsp mustard;
• greens, lettuce or Beijing cabbage.
Cooking
1. Combine olive oil with lemon juice. Add mustard and honey to them, pour a pinch of salt and a little black pepper. Grind everything thoroughly. If desired, you can immediately crumble a little greens into a dressing, let it insist, let out the aroma in the oil.
2. Cut the melon into neat cubes, pour into a large salad bowl.
3. Tomato, too, cut into cubes, but remove the watery entrails with seeds. If the tomato is small, then use a couple.
4. We take olives pitted. Just cut in half. If you like brighter tastes, then you can take green olives.
5. Cut the cheese into cubes, send to the total mass.
6. Water all products with previously prepared dressing.
7. Stir in two tablespoons so as not to damage the soft pieces.
8. On a flat dish, lay out lettuce and cooked appetizer.
9. Sprinkle with chopped walnut on top. It also turns out delicious with pine nuts. We serve the salad immediately, it should not stand.
Sweet melon salad
A wonderful recipe for a sweet dessert salad with melon. If there are no ingredients, then you can exclude or replace.
Ingredients
• 200 g of melon;
• peach;
• sour apple;
• 7-10 strawberries;
• 100 ml of any yogurt;
• 1-2 tablespoons of nuts;
• 1 tbsp. l honey;
• 0.3 tsp cinnamon.
Cooking
1. Dice the peeled flesh of the melon, pour into a bowl.
2. Cut the peach. Also send in a bowl to the melon.
3. If the apple has a hard peel, then it is better to remove it. Cut it into neat pieces. It is better to use an acidic fruit, as the rest of the ingredients are quite sweet.
4. Melt the honey, you can put in the microwave for 10 seconds.
5. Add honey and cinnamon to the yogurt, stir. For dressing, you can use any fruit or classic white yogurt.
6. Add nuts and yogurt to the fruit, stir. Serve in portions. It is very beautiful to serve such a dessert in high transparent glasses.
7. Cut the strawberries in half, decorate the salad. Serve immediately until the fruit has released juice.
Melon and shrimp salad
A gourmet salad option that is not only delicious, but also incredibly healthy. It uses white sesame seeds. By the way, olive oil can be replaced with sesame, the taste will not be worse.
Ingredients
• 200 g of melon;
• 200 g of shrimp;
• 1 tbsp. l sesame seeds;
• 1 bunch of lettuce leaves;
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar;
• 2 tbsp. l oils.
Cooking
1. Boil the shrimp. It is fashionable to do it in a classic way in water or steamed. Cool, clean from the shell, do not forget to remove the dark intestinal vein that runs along the spine. The size of the shrimp does not matter.
2. Tear lettuce leaves with your hands, throw in a bowl. You can use arugula, it also turns out deliciously.
3. Cut the melon into small cubes, about one centimeter. Add to bowl.
4. Mix everything carefully. Put in serving plates.
5. Combine balsamic vinegar with oil. You can use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
6. Sprinkle the salad on top of the cooked dressing, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Ham and melon salad
Parma ham is usually used for this salad. This recipe was originally created by the gorgeous Jamie Oliver. Later it was changed, supplemented, adjusted to different tastes.
Ingredients
• 160 g of a mixture of salads (leaves);
• 50 g of olive oil;
• 160 g of ham;
• 300 g of melon;
• 20 g of nuts;
• 50 g of honey;
• 30 g of lemon juice.
Cooking
1. Cut ripe melon into neat cubes.
2. Rinse lettuce leaves. Jamie Oliver recommends taking the mixture so that there are at least three kinds. Tear with your hands.
3. Parma or any other ham cut into very thin slices, like lettuce. Cut pieces do not need.
4. Combine lettuce, melon and ham. Stir with your hands, put on a flat dish.
5. Mix olive juice with honey, add olive oil to them, carefully grind the sauce until smooth. If necessary, slightly add. By the way, this salad is very tasty and in a spicy version, you can add a couple of pinches of cayenne pepper.
6. Pour the top with food dressing.
7. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve immediately. According to Jamie, this salad should not stand.
Melon Salad with Avocado
For this salad, the avocado will be chopped, which is why you do not need to take too soft fruits. Let them be a little harsh.
Ingredients
• one small melon;
• two avocados;
• one orange;
• 3 tbsp. l olive oil;
• 50 g of any nuts;
• 5 leaves of mint;
• pepper, salt.
Cooking
1. Cut the melon into elongated pieces, but not too finely. Transfer to a large bowl for now.
2. Scalp the orange, remove the zest from half, chop. Or take a fine grater immediately and rub the zest.
3. Cut the citrus in half, squeeze the juice from one part, mix it with the zest, add the olive oil.
4. Finely chop the mint, put it in the dressing. Pepper and salt.
5. In a pan, fry any nuts, if they are not pine nuts. You do not need to fry them. You can use pumpkin seeds, it’s also delicious with them.
6. Cut avocados into long strips, combine with pumpkin.
7. Pour the salad with orange dressing, sprinkle with fried nuts. For decoration, you can use whole leaves of mint.
Melon and pumpkin salad
Another sweet version of melon salad, which can be served as a dessert or a light snack. It is advisable to use table varieties of pumpkin. It is sweet and fragrant. Instead of seeds, you can take any nuts.
Ingredients
• 150 g of melon;
• 150 g pumpkin;
• 1 apple;
• 1 sprig of mint;
• 0.5 lemon;
• 1 tbsp. l pumpkin seeds;
• 20 g of liquid honey.
Cooking
1. Cut the pumpkin and melon into small cubes, throw into a salad bowl.
2. Peel the apple, chop and also add to the total mass.
3. Chop a sprig of mint finely, leave a couple of whole leaves for decoration.
4. Add lemon juice and liquid honey to mint, grind.
5. Fill pumpkin salad with honey mixture, stir.
6. Top with whole pumpkin seeds. You can pre-lightly fry them in a pan to get a more pronounced taste.
Melon Salad - Tips & Tricks
• Sesame, nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds have different tastes, but in almost all salads they can be replaced by each other. Just do not forget to pre-fry in order to enhance the aroma.
• If you are preparing a sweet salad, then a little vanilla or vanilla sugar can be added to the dressing. It, like cinnamon, goes well with melon.
• If you need to prepare a salad in advance, then chopped products are not watered with dressing. Otherwise, melon and other fresh ingredients will release juice.
