I’m a southern girl and except for a few months when I was a baby, I’ve never lived north of Louisville, Kentucky. As any southerner knows, we have our own tastes and customs that help us celebrate each new season . . . like celebrating fall and winter holidays with incredible spreads of fall foods – like winter squash, yams, and pecans, and the holiday cookouts that become a family or neighborhood event that start on the grill and bring in summer fruits and vegetables..
Personally, I look forward to Fried Green Tomatoes in the spring and BLTs with fresh ingredients in the summer. And there’s nothing I want more in the heat of the south than a beautiful, plump, juicy, ice-cold watermelon.
For those of us in Georgia, the best watermelons are grown in South Georgia and are purchased on the side of the road from an entrepreneur who’s brought a truckload up to Atlanta. Grocery store watermelons just don’t make the cut when compared to a melon that’s been farm-grown in the rich soil of the southern half of our state.
And, people down here can debate the best way to cut the watermelon into slices and whether it’s tastier with or without salt.
We love our watermelons.
Recently I’ve enjoyed watermelon prepared in two new ways, and I’ve loved them both. So, as you get ready to celebrate summer with cookouts and picnics (which require watermelon) here are two new ways to serve watermelon to your guests.
Watermelon Salad
My friend Betsy Eagar never fails to bring wonderful food to group gatherings. This week, she brought a watermelon salad to our Ladies Small Group. She doesn’t remember where the recipe came from but she’s made it for years. I googled watermelon and feta and found a ton of recipes that call for a bunch of ingredients. Betsy’s recipe only requires three. It’s absolutely delicious and takes little time to put together. It’s a winner.
For the salad, you need cut-up watermelon, feta cheese, and chopped fresh mint. Period.
How much of each? It doesn’t matter. Here’s the step by step instructions I received:
Step 1: Cut up some watermelon. How much doesn’t matter, just put however much you want in a bowl.
Step 2: Add feta cheese. How much doesn’t matter, just put however much you want in a bowl. Betsy did tell me that she added less feta than normal when bringing it to a group dinner, because some people don’t like feta as much as others do.
Step 3: Add chopped fresh mint. How much does matter, but add some to add color to the salad and bring freshness to it.
Step 4: Mix ingredients and serve.
Yes, it really is that simple. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like feta, but I loved this salad and I will serve it regularly over the summer.
Hamburgers with grilled watermelon
The idea of this hamburger had me scratching my head a bit. Benjie Shaw, my son-in-law who lives in Memphis, found the recipe and wanted to try it while we were in town. In our family, when something is weird, we refer to it as “interesting.” That’s how hubby Bob describes things that really aren’t very good. We all know that when Bob says something is “interesting,” it’s not usually a statement of praise.
That’s what I was anticipating when Benjie told us he had a new recipe to try that came from the off-beat animated sitcom “Bob’s Burgers.” Having never watched Bob’s Burgers, I really didn’t know what to expect. And the idea of putting grilled watermelon slices on the burger made absolutely made no sense to me.
However, Benjie did something that made me willing to give his burger a try – he substituted the feta cheese in the original recipe with mozzarella, just for me. I’ve never been a fan of feta, even when I’ve been in Greece and eaten there. (That’s why I was so surprised I loved the watermelon salad I shared above!) In fact, Benjie left out several other ingredients, so this is somewhat his own recipe now. If you want to see the Bob’s Burger original recipe, google Bob’s Burgers Summer Thyme Burger and you’ll see the original list of ingredients.
For Benjie’s Burger, to which I can strongly attest, you’ll need:
4 hamburger patties, ready to grill
4 slices of watermelon, 1/2 inch thick and cut to the size of the hamburger bun. (We used a small bowl as a guide.)
4 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese or 4 slices of mozzarella cheese (or both – your choice)
4 hamburger buns (plain, fancy – it doesn’t matter)
Salt
Pepper
You’ll notice that this recipe, like the one above, doesn’t call for a lot of carefully measured ingredients either. It makes it a joy to cook.
Step 1: Cut slices of the watermelon that 1/2″ thick and the size of the hamburger bun. Place the slices in a colander so the excess liquid can drain. Salt each slice well. Let them sit for 15 minutes.
Step 2: If using shredded cheese, mix it and the pepper with the ground beef. If not, just season the meat. Make four patties. (We used 1/4 pound of meat for each burger.)
Step 3: Rinse off the watermelon slices to remove most of the salt and then pat each slice dry.
Step 4: Cook the burgers on the grill. Add the watermelon slices to the grill for the last 5 minutes, turning the watermelon slices once. You want to get grill marks on the watermelon. Make sure it is heated to the touch.
Step 5: Put the burgers together. First, put the bottom bun on the plate. Then add lettuce, a watermelon slice, and the slice of mozzarella cheese if you didn’t mix it into the meat. Or add the cheese a second time, because who doesn’t love mozzarella? Finally, add some mayonnaise and the top bun.
Serve it proudly! It is definitely a winner.
One note: I thoroughly enjoyed this burger and the grilled watermelon. Later I just grilled the watermelon and it wasn’t great, probably because I didn’t add all the salt to it in step one. If you want to try grilled watermelon alone, follow steps 1 and 3 carefully.
