Melon and Strawberry Salad

It’s summer and we are definitely experiencing the heat here in Northwest Arkansas. We are melting, but we’re also enjoying some of earth’s most delicious fruits and vegetables. Life has tradeoffs…right? One of those is most definitely the exchange of summer heat for the fresh fruits and vegetables it produces. Recently we decided to try a new fruit salad recipe that includes many of the fruits currently in season: watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries. Not only is this melon and strawberry salad recipe refreshing and delicious it also feeds large crowds; making it a great side dish for fourth of July celebrations and lake days. I’m excited to make it a few more times this season and hope you enjoy it too.

Gathering the Ingredients for Your Melon and Strawberry Salad

Since food is best enjoyed as an experience I encourage you to spend a morning at your local farmers market gathering ingredients for the fruit salad. Of course this isn’t a requirement, but soaking up the morning sun while visiting with farmers who grow, pick, and pack your summer fruit adds another layer of enjoyment to this summer treat. You will need watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and fresh mint. The dressing takes sugar and lime.

The Recipe

Prepare the Ingredients

There is some preparation that needs to be finished before you can mix the salad. Most of this is easy work, especially if you have the correct tools, but it can take a bit of time. To get everything prepared you need to:

• Wash and rinse the berries, cherries, and mint then allow them to air dry.
• Slice the strawberries into quarters.
• Pit and halve the cherries. I had originally planned on doing this with a knife, but opted to use a cherry pitter instead. I actually made at trip into town for this. After trying a couple of stores with no success I almost lost hope until I finally found this OXO Good Grips Cherry Pitter at our local Williams Sonoma. This tool pits up to 6 cherries at a time and saves a lot of time, produce, and probably frustration. It is definitely worth the investment.
• Finely chop the mint.
• Squeeze and zest the lime.
• Cut the watermelon into 1 inch cubes.

Some Special Considerations Before Mixing the Melon and Strawberries

To make sure that the fruit salad is as fresh and crisp as possible I like to prepare all of the other fruits prior to cutting the watermelon. I save this step for just before I am ready to serve the salad. Watermelon tends to get mushy the longer it sets in it’s juices, as do the other fruits. To avoid this, I like to refrigerate the melon prior to cutting so that it is cool and cut it just before I am ready to serve.

Assembling the Melon and Strawberry Salad

When you are ready, mix 4 cups of watermelon, 1.5 cups of strawberries, 1.5 cups of raspberries, and 1.5 cups of cherries in a large bowl.

To make the dressing you will whisk together 3-4 Tbsp. Sugar, 2 Tbsp. Lime Juice, 1 tsp.Lime zest, and 1 Tbsp. fresh mint in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. After whisking, drizzle the dressing over the mixed fruit and lightly toss.

More Recipes

If you would like to try any of my other recipes, you can find them here. We are just coming out of blueberry season, but I know many of you may be just enjoying them in your zone. Two blueberry recipes that we love are My Mom’s Blueberry Cheesecake and this Blueberry Pie Filling. I hope you enjoy your summer berry salad! Thank you for your support of Fresh Wanderings. I am so glad you are here.

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