Cantaloupe Salad with Jalapeño Dressing
A fresh cantaloupe salad with shaved watermelon, zucchini, red onion, crumbled feta, and chopped walnuts, finished with a blended jalapeño dressing made with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, and chives. This sweet, spicy, and refreshing summer salad is ready in just 20 minutes.
Servings 4 as a side salad
Ingredients
*Optional: marinate the zucchini in ¼ tsp salt and then 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp white vinegar, noted below in instructions
For the salad
- 1 small cantaloupe halved, seeded, cut into wedges, skin removed and then thinly sliced
- 1 small watermelon skin removed, shaved thinly into strips
- 1 medium zucchini thinly sliced rounds
- ¼ red onion very thinly sliced
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ⅔ cup roughly chopped walnuts
For the dressing
- 2 jalapeño peppers halved, stemmed, and seeded (if large, just use 1)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbsp minced fresh chives
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- Pinch of chili flakes
Instructions
- Optional: If desired, marinate the zucchini: Add the zucchini to a bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt, toss well and let sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the zucchini in a colander and then gently squeeze the zucchini slices to get out the excess water.
- Make the dressing: To a blender add the jalapeño peppers, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic clove, minced fresh chives, kosher salt and pinch of chilli flakes. Blend on high until well combined and smooth. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper if desired.
- For the salad: On a platter or in a large bowl, add the thinly sliced cantaloupe, shaved watermelon, zucchini and thinly sliced red onion. Drizzle 3/4 of the dressing over the salad and gently toss a few times. Let sit for 5 minutes. Finish the salad with the crumbled feta cheese, finely chopped walnuts and drizzle over the rest of the dressing.
