Stimulating Summer Salad
Written, Cooked, and Photographed by: Taylor Holmes
During the dead heat of summer the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven or stove. With my kitchen feeling like a furnace, I’m looking for something refreshing, easy, and light to make for lunch. The victims of my culinary culling? An unsuspecting head of romaine lettuce and the remnants of a honeydew melon based fruit salad I had made the day before. The fruit salad was a big hit between Katelyn and I. Versatile to have for both breakfast and lunch, or even as a nice poolside snack on a hot day! A brilliant thing about fruit salad too, is that a lot of the time, you can repurpose it in to something else once it loses it’s freshness.
Unsuspecting fruits, before being made in to a dressing!
The fruit salad itself was still refreshing and flavourful, but some of the fruit I had put in were a little soft to serve on their own. It was comprised of banana, kiwi, orange, honeydew melon, brandy, lemon juice, water, and sugar. When I decided to check out what state it was in, the bananas and kiwi had softened and the orange had fallen apart, but the honeydew melon was still firm and in great shape. I decided that I would turn this leftover fruit salad in to a dressing for my new salad!
The soon to be repurposed fruit salad was lightly tossed in a combination of sugar, water, brandy, and lemon Juice, so I didn’t need to add much to the dressing. Having sat in the brandy and lemon juice, the natural flavours had melded together nicely, and infused the fruit with a lightly tangy, yet mildly emboldened flavour. I pureed the fruit salad with a bit of apple cider vinegar and olive oil. The pureed fruits themselves proved excellent emulsifiers, so I didn’t have to add anything to help hold the consistency.
With the dressing made, all that was left to do was to dive through the fridge and find out what I had that was fresh, stimulating, and summery. strawberry, raspberry, cucumber, and the last of my honeydew melon were what I found, but I needed something else. Something to tie it all together. blue cheese.
The finished product!
In order to bring a new depth and dimension to this fresh and fruity dish, I decided to grill the leftover honeydew. What’s important to note when grilling anything that, debatably, does not belong on a grill, is that it must be cooked hot and fast. As my BBQ warmed up and the grill was sizzling, I finished washing and cutting my produce.
Having finished grilling, the melon was ready to be the staple that I built my salad around. Once it was partially buried with dressed romaine, topped with fresh berries, and accompanied with cucumber slices, the grilled honeydew was ready to be topped with gently crumbled blue cheese and hastily devoured!
Ingredients
honeydew dressing:
1 banana (not overly ripe)
1 orange
2 kiwis
3 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
1/2 honeydew melon
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup olive oil*
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar*
Honeydew dressing with the salad’s toppings
Cut all of the fruit in to small pieces, and set aside in a deep container or blender to puree in. Separately mix the water, brandy, lemon juice, and sugar. Once solved, pour over the fruit. Proceed to blend/puree until smooth. Once smooth, add the vinegar and olive oil, and blend/puree.
For the salad itself, use whatever your favourite base leaf is. From romaine to spring mix, the honeydew dressing is quite versatile and can pair even with more bitter leaves. Use whatever fresh and summery toppings you have available, but I would recommend any host of: Fresh berries, cucumber, shrimp, chicken, pomegranate, apple, pear, strong cheese, scallions, or walnuts.
*For fruit salad, simply do not blend, and leave out the oil and vinegar