Categories: Food & Drink

Watermelon with Pine Nuts and Watercress Salad

Sweet watermelon is a wonderful complimentary salad recipe, blended well with roasted pine nuts and vinegar.

 

Yesterday, I had bought a ripe watermelon from Tesco which was selling at a very low price cut.

How to choose a ripe watermelon

Thank goodness that a middle age housewife aunty had helped me to choose the ripe watermelon with lots of juice.

Some other aunties are also good at choosing watermelon which I had noticed that they:

 

Ripe watermelon by pixabay

#1 -Look at the color

  • The aunty told me that you have to look at the surface of the watermelon.
  • No bruises, no cuts.
  • The color should be dark green with stripes.
  • Yellowish stripes should be avoided- signify old watermelon with less juice.

#2 – The weight

  • She said that you have to lift up the watermelon to test the weight.
  • It should be heavy. That means 90% of watermelon juice, sweet and juicy.
  • Try lifting up 2 different but same size watermelon, choose the heavier one.
  • Your both hands is the “weighing machine”

 

#3 -Knock Knock

  • Aunty also said the sound test is one of the MUST to do test before making your final decision.
  • Lift up the watermelon, use your knuckles to knock around the it.
  • It should have “hollow” sound, like an echo.
  • If the sound is thick like you are knocking a book, that means lots of flesh but less juice.
  • That is not a ripe watermelon.
  • Hence, you need to place your ears nearer to the watermelon.

 

Reasons to eat salad for heavy lunch or dinner

If you had a heavy lunch or dinner, especially high cholesterol meal, it is wise to have a bowl of fresh fruit or vegetable salad after the meal.

This Watermelon & Pine Nuts Salad with Watercress would be a perfect choice to get rid of excess calories and fats.

 

Pine nuts ( raw) by pixabay

Pine Nuts

Pine nuts is one of the Mediterranean delicacy.

It is extremely high in protein, magnesium, zinc, potassium and Vitamin E.

Pine nuts make a wonderful addition to salad recipes and mixed rice such as fried rice.

It would be a shame to leave out pine nuts in your salad.

Crunchy and chewy, wonderful combination with watermelons.

Do try this refreshing fruit salad recipe for a refreshing digestion and absorb adequate nutrients!

 

 

 

Related Post

Watermelon with Pine Nuts and Watercress Salad

Ingredients

  • 100g watercress
  • 1 medium red onions, sliced thinly
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • black pepper-ground to taste
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin oil
  • 300g watermelon (red) – remove seeds and skin.
  • 5 tsp roasted pine nuts

 

Salad Prepare method

  1. Trim the stems of watercress. Rinse and dry. Keep chill in fridge.
  2. Cut watermelon skin off, Cut into small cubes.
  3. Place sliced onion in ice water.
  4. Combine both vinegar and pepper.
  5. Gradually whisk in virgin oil.
  6. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste.

 

To Prepare the Salad Assembly

  1. In a bowl, add in a little watercress and 1 tbsp dressing ( vinegar mixture)
  2. Life up the watercress, allow the dressing drip back into the bowl.
  3. Arrange the watercress in a bowl with watermelon cubes.
  4. Pour in the remainder salad dressing into this bowl, toss about.
  5. Garnish with a few red onions ad scatter roasted pine nuts.
  6. Serve chilled with crushed ice cubes if you desired.

 

Yield: 3-4 persons

Ready in 15 minutes

 

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Photo belonged to peachpurple

Read more articles written by peachpurple HERE

More salad recipes:

Tuna Chickpea Salad

Orange Apple Smoothie

Crunchy Cool Salad

Mouthwatering Salad

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  • peachpurple

    View Comments

    • That information about how to find out if the watermelon is ripe is truly useful.
      We do not get pine seeds here. May be we could replace it with anyother nuts.

      • Thanks, I found that aunties old tradition tips on how to choose ripe watermelons are pretty useful, don;t they?

        You can replace pine nuts or other roasted nuts available.
        Most nuts are large, so your could roast and coarsely chopped

    • I have actually got the information I wanted to know. Fruits and especially watermelons are too complicated to choose the ripe one.

      • dear mark
        Glad that this post had given you the tips how to choose ripe watermelons, again, thanks to those aunties shopping at the supermarket

    • Didn't know pine nuts were Mediterranean. The watermelon sounds so juicy and refreshing. It's hard to think of pairing it with nuts. But this salad recipe makes me think it's worth a try. :)

      • Dear treathyl
        Yeah I didn't know that pine nuts were from mediterranean too until I did some checking.
        It may sounds odd but these pine nuts are mini, so you don't feel the weird taste at all.
        Just crunchy mix well with sweet watrmelons

    • This recipe sounds very delicious! I too like the information about choosing a ripe watermelon. I will have to try this out sometime.

    • It is a good recipe for the domestic ladies and they may prepare this dish for their school going children. I think it is a fine and best recipe for me also. I will try to make it at home.

      The blend of nutty, milky and salty flavors makes this a purely refreshing summer salad. Feta can also be used.

      The fleur de sel becomes an ingredient in its own right in a salad such as this, where its crunch and mineral taste acts as a counterpoint to the sweet juiciness of the watermelon. Use extra vinaigrette on corn on the cob, brush on meats after they come off the grill, or toss with thinly sliced refrigerated cucumbers.

      Golden Balsamic Sherry Vinaigrette

      1 shallot (about 1 ounce), minced
      1/3 cup golden balsamic vinegar
      2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
      2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
      1 cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil
      1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
      Few grinds of black pepper
      Salad

      6 thin slices Serrano ham, (about 4 ounces)
      3 cups watercress or upland cress leaves (about 3 cups)
      6 cups 1/2-inch-cube red and yellow seedless watermelon
      5 1/2 ounces ricotta salata, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
      6 tablespoons pine nuts
      1 teaspoon fleur de sel
      For the vinaigrette: Place the shallot, vinegars, and thyme in a small bowl and allow the shallots to “bloom” (macerate) for 30 minutes.
      Drizzle the olive oil into the vinegar, whisking to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper.
      Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
      For the salad: Place the serrano ham slices on a baking sheet, invert another baking sheet on top and bake until crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and cool.
      Combine the watercress, watermelon, ricotta salata, and pine nuts in a large salad bowl.
      Dress the salad starting with about 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette, adding more vinaigrette as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to lightly coat ingredients.
      Divide the salad onto 6 chilled salad plates. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and top each salad with a slice of crisp serrano ham.

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