The shock of the new: watermelon and peashoot salad

Ragazzi, this tale is more or less one that makes cooking all worthwhile.  It is the story of how Annalena was essentially fiddling in her kitchen, came up with something good, but thought nothing of it.  Until the reactions came in, including one suggestion to keep this quiet, and not to let restaurants know about it.

Annalena's view?  Be her guest.  We'll aways know who got there first.

Some time ago, we  here in NYC were sweating through a very uncomfortable period of the summer.  To say it was hot, is an understatement.  Annalena was close to changing her clothes three times a day, without a visit to her gym.  And in hot weather, ragazzi, one of the things that refuses to grow - or grows so fast as to be inedible - is lettuce.  Every kind of lettuce.  As a result, there were no greens for green salad.

Now, there does come a time every year when salad greens are just not as available as you would think, and it is in fact during the summer that it happens.  And every time it does, Annalena is unprepared for it.  NOT THIS YEAR... NO SIREE.  She was ready with, uh, about 4-5 different salads that did not involve lettuce.

And she was sick of them all as the heat wore on.

Heat, however, is a watermelon's good friend, to a point.  Watermelon needs very hot weather to grow.  And if you were to see some of the melons in the market now, ragazzi, you would know that they are getting more than their fair share of hot weather.  Annalena and the Guyman are not big fans of watermelon as fruit, but she was getting ideas about a watermelon salad, with feta cheese, and purslane.

The purslane idea didn't work out.  BUT... in the house, there were pea shoots.    So, the salad became watermelon, peashoot, and feta cheese.  Fantastic.  

As the hot weather continued, there were meals where there was cheese involved in the entrees, and Annalena does not like to serve forth two courses with cheese.  So she left out the cheese.  Know what?  The salad was even better.

To the dressing:  Annalena knew, somewhat instinctively, that a sweeter dressing than her usual would be necessary for a watermelon salad, so she switched to balsamic vinegar, rather than champagne vinegar.  This proved to be a good choice, tastewise.  BUT... think for a minute, if you will, of the combination of watermelon, in its red or pink-red form, and dark balsamic vinegar.   Not so pretty.

Well, it isn't a staple in her kitchen, but white balsamic vinegar exists.  And it works  And by using it, you keep the beautiful color of this salad  , well, beautiful.  And there are ways to gussy it up to, as Annalena will explain.  Ready?

You need about a quarter pound of peashoots.  That's more than it seems.  These guys are light.  And a small watermelon.  You've seen the "sugar baby " type of watermelons.  Annalena thinks you may not be able to get one with seeds,  but ask to make sure it's seedless.  The seeds aren't a problem, but they're a nuisance.  You want one that is slightly underripe, which will make your farmer very happy, since everyone wants  RIPE, SWEET watermelon.  There is enough sweetness in an underripe one to work for salad.  In fact, it's better.

To peel the melon, Annalena cuts a horizontal slice off the bottom, so she can stand it on a surface.  Do the same thing at the other end, and then using a big knife, slice down the peel.  It's not unlike peeling a pineapple.   You'll have an irregular shaped "blob" of red or pink fruit after that.    Cut long slices, say about a  half inch thick, and then cut them into cubes.  You'll be tasting as you go along, let's face it, but you'll have enough.  Put this right on top of the pea shoots.

To the dressing, and Annalena's solution.  You will need a lot of dressing for a salad like this, so plan on 1/3 cup of vinegars and 2/3 of olive oil.  Annalena uses half and half of the white balsamic vinegar and wine vinegar, but if you like sweetness, go all the way with balsamic.  A teaspoon of salt as well, please.  Shake it all up, really well, and then pour it over the watermelon.  Then, gently turn everything together, and you're ready.

It amazes Annalena that something this simple could be this good.  But it is.  Now, you can "fancy" this a few ways.  One is, of course, with the feta cheese.  Get the driest, saltiest one you can find.  Ricotta salata will work as well.  Annalena likes the salad very much with opaline basil  - this is the purple one.  Just put small, whole leaves in, and don't toss them.  Just leave them at top.  If she were eating it herself, she'd use hyssop, but this is not a taste to many people's likings, so proceed with caution and save it for your licorice loving friends.

Make it.  And remember.  This is a GOOD one to make ahead of time.  It stands in the refrigerator for HOURS.  So make it in the afternoon, let it sit, and then... your dinner salad only awaits your dressing.