a hit and a miss

Recently I had some leftover crumbled feta cheese in my refrigerator. I didn’t want it to spoil, so I began looking for recipes in which to use this small amount of cheese. I came across various recipes for watermelon and feta salad. There were recipes that were made with a basil vinaigrette, or contained arugula, cucumbers or tomatoes. I wanted to keep it simple so I went with a basic watermelon salad that had mint. Although my husband and I aren’t big mint lovers, he was willing to give it a try.


I found a recipe by Jacque Pepin, watermelon salad with feta and mint, that was on the Food and Wine website. His recipe called for EVOO, fresh lemon juice, Tabasco, freshly ground pepper, kalamata olives, sweet onion and mint leaves. I had to adapt the recipe due to the quantity of watermelon I had and I didn’t have the onion or olives. The watermelon was already in small chunks. All I had to do was to mix the dressing and chop some mint. In some of the recipes I read, I followed their suggestion of not mixing the feta into the salad, but placed it on topped; then tossed when ready to serve.

Although I added a small amount of mint, my husband wasn’t impressed with this salad. “Why did I go and ruin perfectly good watermelon.” I found the combination of ingredients interesting. The watermelon was sweet and juicy and was a nice foil against the saltiness of the feta. I too would have preferred no mint in the salad. It was refreshing last week when we had those hot steamy days. If you to try something daring and different, this recipe maybe for you.
 
I had my children and their spouses for dinner Friday night, we were seven including my granddaughter. For a change of pace, I decided to serve beef for the group. I had recently watched an episode of Lidia’s [Bastianich] Kitchen where she prepared London broil steak with sun dried tomato marinade.  The marinade had dry red wine, sun dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, crushed red pepper and EVOO. The marinade was easy to prepare as it was done in a food processor. You can marinate for as little as an hour, or as I did, overnight. To cook, the meat is removed from the marinade, placed in a roasting pan, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and roasted for approximately 20 minutes for medium rare. To serve it, thinly slice it against the grain for tender pieces of meat.
 
The meat came out delicious; tender and moist. My family enjoyed it, so much so that my husband heated a few slices to go with his zucchini frittata with pecorino and chives for breakfast on Sunday morning. And since no one had to tend the grill for this recipe, it made preparation all the more easy.
 
Recently I told someone about this dish I prepared. They inquired as to whether it could be cooked on the grill. I think it could, but I would probably cook it on a sheet of foil as there will be marinade clinging to the meat and I would use indirect heat. If you want to get some grill marks on the meat before serving, I would oil the grill grates a bit and place the meat on the grill for a few minutes.