This watermelon salad has all my favorite summer produce, mixed together in one delicious sweet, salty, and sour dish. The watermelon is obviously the sweet part, although I do consider summer cucumbers to be sweet as well. The salty part is from the pistachios, that I sprinkle on top to preserve their crunchiness. Finally, the sour is from some fresh lime juice that I squeezed over the salad when it’s ready to be served. The colors make this a show stopper if you are entertaining, and the flavors go great with Mexican, Barbecue, and even Indian food. In fact, my husband said it reminded him of his grandma’s kachumber without the spicy kick.
I recommend getting Pistachio Nutmeats that are already shelled from Trader Joes. The pistachios are unsalted so I recommend being generous with the sea salt. Both cucumbers and watermelon taste really amazing with a decent amount of sea salt on top, so don’t be afraid to be a little heavy handed and salt to taste. I recommend waiting until serving to add the sea salt though, otherwise it will make your vegetables sweat. Yes, that’s a real thing.
- ¼ watermelon chopped
- ½ cup of fresh cilantro chopped
- 4 persian cucumbers chopped (3/4 lb)
- ½ red onion sliced
- ¼ cup pistachios pieces
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
- (optional) garnish with lime wedges
- Chop watermelon, cucumbers, cilantro, and red onion. Then add to a large bowl, and mix ingredients together with sea salt and lime juice.
- Scoop into individual portions, then sprinkle pistachios pieces over each salad, when ready to serve to maintain crunchy texture.
- (Optional) Garnish with lime wedges