Chopped Cucumber Melon Summer Salad.

We love this cucumber melon salad! Loaded with cantaloupe, cucumbers, pickled onions, feta cheese and pistachios, the entire thing is drizzled with a basil mint vinaigrette. It’s a big bite of summer and perfect for any meal!

This refreshing salad is one for the books!

Chopped cantaloupe and cucumber come together in this super refreshing, cooling bowl of goodness. Mixed with fresh herbs, creamy feta cheese, some roasted pistachios and tangy pickled onions, this is ridiculously delish. Oh and the vinaigrette – pure heaven!

Okay now, be honest: who else gets all the 90s and early 2000’s Bath and Body Works feels every time you hear the words “cucumber melon?” 

Um, yes, cucumber melon was my life! It was so sweet, refreshing and delicious in all of its fully-loaded-with-alcohol-and-fragrance body mist glory. I mean it was theeeee scent and I wanted it in every single version: body splash, body cream, body wash and more.

Literally just thinking of my tween years is making me sneeze. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a recipe inspired by a bath product. I’ve made a few others inspired by my favorite candle scents as a kid, which seems weird unless you love gourmet scented things. See white chocolate lavender ice cream and cookies, as well pumpkin chai muffins and more. 

Anyway! That is the major place that I found inspiration for this recipe. The other thing is that I just love fruit served in a savory salad. Something that makes it salty and savory and delicious, and adding the cucumber just seemed natural because of its cool, refreshing taste. 

The key here is CHOPPING the ingredients. Making this a chopped salad is what takes it over the top. You get a bite of everything on your fork and it pairs really nicely with grilled chicken, steak or even fish. It almost can act like a salsa or relish too, depending on how small you chop the bits. 

I mean, I wouldn’t mind scooping it up with a chip either… 

Here’s what we’ve got in the lineup!

Chopped cantaloupe. This is my melon of choice but you really could also do watermelon or even honeydew. My family is obsessed with cantaloupe though… I don’t even want to tell you how many we go through in a week. 

Chopped cucumber. Again, for that savory, cooling, refreshing melon piece of the puzzle. There is nothing like a cool cucumber in summer when it’s hot out. It’s hydrating! 

Pickled onions. Because let’s be honest, can I make anything without them? They live in my fridge every week and I adore their tangy, briney bite. Plus, they are hot pink so that’s a major win in my book.

Feta cheese. This is my favorite option for the salad and I love how crumbly it gets. That means you get a bite in almost every forkful of salad. You could also use goat cheese here. Or skip the cheese entirely. 

Pistachios! I adore some crunch and texture in my salad – this is no secret. Pistachios are so buttery and go well with fruit and herbs. I like to use a roasted, salted version for ease. But any other nut that you enjoy can work here too. 

Fresh herbs. Particularly fresh mint and basil. These cooling, refreshing herbs are not only gorgeous in the salad but they add summer flavor as well as that sweet and savory component. 

A fabulous vinaigrette. Okay, this is where we’re really going to shine! I make a mint basil vinaigrette that is out of this world. It’s vibrant green, herbaceous, fresh and elevates any meal. Don’t skip this part! 

The vinaigrette is my favorite part of this salad. The mint and basil so wonderfully scream SUMMER in every way. I love this for dressing, drizzling, dipping, just about everything.

As usual, I use my nutribullet to bring this together and really blend up those herbs, giving it an incredible shade of green that I adore. It just LOOKS like summer. 

The crunch is outrageously good and the cheese complements the melon so well. It’s a bowl that is not only beautiful, but easy to throw together too! (more…)

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