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Grilled Watermelon & Tomato Salad

I love using an outdoor grill throughout all months of the year, but especially in the summer and fall when the weather is warm and beautiful outside. As an added benefit, it helps keep the temperature down inside your kitchen! Pair this salad with whatever protein you happen to be cooking on the grill. Or just eat the salad with an assortment of grilled vegetables and keep it super healthy and simple!
The following recipes makes 4 very large salads.

Ingredients

  • ¼ watermelon (rind removed, flesh cut into 1.5-inch thick strips)
  • 2 large beefsteak tomatoes
  • Kosher salt
  • ½ sweet onion (sliced finely)
  • 3 Tbsp tomato vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
  • ½ Tbsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
  • ¼ cup pine nuts (lightly toasted)
  • 1 cup Feta cheese
  • ¼ cup fresh mint (finely sliced)
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Freshly-ground black pepper

Instructions 

  • Preheat the grill to 500F (260C).
  • Remove the rind from the watermelon, and cut the flesh into thick strips that are roughly 1.5 inches thick and 6 inches long.
  • Remove the stem section from the tops of the beefsteak tomatoes, and cut the tomato flesh into large ¾-inch thick rounds.
  • Salt the tomatoes lightly with Kosher salt on both sides.
  • Gently grill the watermelon and tomatoes at 500F (260C) until they have some grill marks on the outsides.
  • Set the watermelon and tomatoes aside on a plate for whenever you are ready to assemble the salads.
  • Combine the sliced sweet onion with the vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard. Mix to combine.
  • Cut the grilled watermelon and tomato into bite-sized pieces, and divide the pieces among 4 salad bowls.
  • Add the onions with the dressing on top of the watermelon and tomato.
  • When you are ready to serve, top each individual salad with some toasted pine nuts, Feta cheese, sliced fresh mint, extra virgin olive oil, and freshly-ground black pepper.

Notes

You can grill the watermelon and tomato about an hour before serving them, and serve them at room temperature, if desired—They don’t need to be served warm.
If you can’t find tomato vinegar, use sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar. You can make your own diluted “tomato vinegar” by mixing three parts of the water that drains out from salted tomatoes with 2 parts sherry vinegar. Or you can sometimes find a more robust version in selected specialty food stores, although it’s not very well-known.