All of my children enjoy cooking and I’d like to think they got that enjoyment from their mom!
I love to watch each one of them think about creating recipes, thinking outside the box and putting their ideas on a plate.
They are all very different in what they love to cook…my oldest, Christopher, is quite the grill, spice and sauce master!
Recently, he promised his wife, Amy, a restaurant-quality meal at home which included this amazing salad.
He wanted me to taste the left-overs the next day and I happily finished it off!
I told him it was surely going to be one of my new summer recipes…with a couple of twists of my own!
First, cut a few triangles of watermelon for easy grilling…
I was doubly excited to be able to use my adorable new Rae Dunn Watermelon plate that I recently found on clearance at
my local Home Goods store! I love to browse their many shelves of delightful finds and gather items that I don’t particularly
need but they’re just too good to bypass!
I would have normally grilled the melon outside, but I was making this recipe after coming in from work at 10 P.M. so
my handy stove-top grill pan was my tool of choice! You need to just get some nice grill-marks on the watermelon,
so this method was very easy-peasy! I took a grill brush and basted the pan with some olive oil, set the cooking
temperature on high and grilled both sides of the melon…I then just stacked them on a plate and set aside to cool down
before I cut the melon into cubes for the salad…
Christopher did not add cucumber to his salad, but I think watermelon and cucumber are a perfect match…
they compliment each other so well…so I peeled, seeded and diced one to throw into the mix…
In a large bowl, I added the container of baby arugula…the diced cucumber…
The grilled watermelon cubes…
These delicious candied pecan pieces that Chris said was a “must”…
along with this incredible Honey Balsamic Dressing by Ken’s….Oh my!
Next toss in the Feta Cheese and crumbled fried bacon pieces …
The bacon was another addition of mine to the recipe…
because…well…can you ever go wrong with bacon?? I think not!
Next toss all those lovely flavors together and serve the salad on your individual plates…
And when you’re eating it, be sure to get a bit of every little part of the salad… the melon, the arugula, the feta, the bacon,
the cucumber, the candied pecans….swoon…the combination of these flavors will knock your socks off!
Served along side a perfectly grilled chicken breast or steak, how could you not think that you were not dining in one of the
finest restaurants in your area! Thanks to my son for always taking his grilling to another level for us!
Christopher’s Grilled Watermelon & Arugula Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3–4 Watermelon Triangles to grill
- 1 container Baby Arugula
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
- 5–6 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 cup crumbled Feta Cheese
- 1/2 pkg candied Pecan Pieces
- Ken’s Steakhouse Honey Balsamic Dressing…enough to toss with the salad to taste
Instructions
On your hot outdoor grill or indoor grill pan, place watermelon slices just long enough to get some good grill marks on the fruit; set aside. When cool, dice into bite-size pieces.
In a large salad bowl, add the baby arugula, diced watermelon, diced cucumbers, bacon pieces, pecan pieces, and crumbled Feta; chill the salad until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, add about 1/3 cup of the dressing and toss well. Have a taste and see if it needs more dressing or just serve the salad along side the bottle of dressing — each guest can add more per their personal taste.
Enjoy!