Message from Marilyn’s Kitchen:
It’s Summer! Fruits and vegetables are overflowing at Farmers’ Markets across the country. Here in Oregon, we have early peaches, beautiful Eastern Oregon cantaloupes, and Hermiston watermelons, just to name a few. I have been experimenting with this watermelon salad, ever since tasting it at one of our monthly AVA meetings here in the Eola-Amity Hills. At first I was sure it was a cherry tomato salad, given the way the watermelon was cut, and was delighted with my mistake.
Serve with a slightly chilled Bethel Heights Pinot Blanc ’09 or Pinot Gris ‘09. Both bring a nice acidity to the sweetness of the watermelon.
Recipe: Watermelon Salad
Small seedless melon, about four – five cups.
½ cup diced red onion, or sweet onion of your choice
½ cup crumbled feta cheese,
¼ cup snipped fresh basil
Lemon vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Using a melon ball tool, cut tiny circles of watermelon, and place in a colander to drain as you work. Add the following to the colander, without mixing.
Diced onion (very fine)
Snipped basil (thin threads)
Crumbled feta
At this point, you can place the colander in a larger bowl and refrigerate, covered, till you are ready to serve the same day. Watermelon doesn’t include the word “water” for nothing, so I don’t actually mix everything together until I add the dressing. Just let the onion, basil and feta sit on top of your melon without mixing until you are ready to add the dressing and serve.
Dressing:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (not olive oil for this one….lighter is better)
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed.
Dash of hot sauce (Tabasco)
Dash of salt
½ – 1 T sugar (to taste)
Refrigerate dressing till you are ready to mix.
Check our website, under Marilyn’s Kitchen, for a delightful fresh peach soup, also a winner for summer, served with our Bethel Heights ‘09 Unoaked Chardonnay.
Bethel Heights Vineyard 