Looking for a delicious variation to accompany your burgers at your next barbecue? Look no further than our fabulous Melon Salad, which infuses Mexican flavors into a fruit salad bursting with personality. This unique salsa-style salad adds a refreshing and vibrant touch to any meal you serve. You may be thinking, “Should I forgo the spices?”. Well, you certainly can, but believe us, you’d be missing out! The juicy sweetness of the melon harmonizes perfectly with the lightness of the chillies, a winning combination dear to a country that knows how to savour flavours while staying fresh.
Melon salad ingredients
the melon
- Where to start? There are so many classic varieties of melons, with new (and heirloom) varieties available, depending on where you live, so check out those farmers markets!
- used to seedless watermelon, honeydew, Cantaloupeand tuscan melonbecause that’s what they had in my supermarket and I like the color combination.
- You don’t have to mix your melons for this salad, a single variety can be just as effective and delicious. take a look at me watermelon sauce for inspiration
lime
- fresh lemon juice is the ‘dressing’ for this salad. The acidity of the lime balances the sweetness of the melon. No oil is needed, so this is a low-calorie side dish option.
Red onion
- the slight sharpness of the onion complements the honeydew. If you find the taste of raw onion too strong, you can soak the sliced onions in cold water for a few minutes to soften their flavor.
jalapeno (optional)
- You know me, I’ll add jalapeno to almost anything, but here it makes a lot of sense. Remember that jalapenos aren’t very hot, but their flavorful warmth gives a nice depth to the salad.
cilantro
- Are there any more polarizing ingredients? If you love it, you’ll understand what he’s doing here. If you hate it, leave it out and substitute fresh mint.
ground chili
- You want real ground chili, which are simply dried chiles, ground into a powder. It can be mild or spicy, depending on the variety you buy. I used chipotle chili powder, which is spicy. But I only add half a teaspoon, so don’t be afraid of it.
Chili powder vs chili powder
Spelling Matters: Chili powder and chili powder are different ingredients. For this melon salad you want chili powder (I always keep both in my spice cabinet)
- Chili Powder: Refers to ground dried chiles, specifically in Latin American and Mexican cuisine. The specific pepper used can vary, such as ancho, guajillo, or pasilla. Chili powder adds a distinctive, spicy flavor to traditional Mexican dishes.
- Chilli powder: It is a blend of spices commonly used in American cooking, containing ground chili peppers, along with spices such as cumin, garlic powder, and oregano. It has an earthy, slightly spicy flavor and is used in dishes such as chili con carne and Tex-Mex cuisine.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend to introduce more melon varieties to the market, with California, Arizona, Texas and Florida leading the way. These new melons offer different flavors, textures, and colors, giving consumers more choice and variety. Look out for Honey Kiss, Galia, Canary, Crenshaw, and Orange Honeydew, among others. There are also newer seedless varieties of watermelon, like Sugar Baby, that have a more vibrant flavor and would be perfect for this salad.
More summer melon recipes to try
How petite cut your melon
For most melon salads, the fruit is cut into irregular pieces. This makes sense, since melons are round, with thick skins, and are not conducive to cutting into regular shapes. On top of that, most of them have seed cavities in the center, making it so. Watermelon is the easiest, as it doesn’t have a center cavity and you can slice and dice thin pieces of fruit into small cubes. I use my favorite crocodile mincer for work.
