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The refreshing taste of watermelon is synonymous with summer and when the fruit is made into a delicious watermelon salad, you’ve got a dish that’s best described as summer on a plate.
Lifestyle guru Kamaria Moore agrees, “Watermelon just sings summertime for me. When you get a crisp, flavorful watermelon, you’ve hit the jackpot.”
Moore says a watermelon salad takes the fruit to a whole new level and is a classic dish that’s right at home on a Juneteenth table. “After Emancipation, watermelon was one of the crops that former enslaved people were able to grow, sell and make money for themselves and their families. That’s a new economic freedom, which is freedom in itself,” recounts the multi-talented entrepreneur and author about watermelon’s ties to the Juneteenth celebration.
MEET OUR EXPERT
Kamaria Moore is the founder of lifestyle brand Moore Living. She shares her quick tips on cooking, gardening, homemaking and self-care on ML Minis (Moore Living Minis) on YouTube.
Variations on a Theme
“I am always encouraging people to make watermelon salad your own and try different flavors,” coaches Moore. “If you want to just do different types of melons—like honeydew, cantaloupe—with the watermelon I think that’s great too.”
For a Mediterranean spin on watermelon salad, she says to consider adding prosciutto, feta cheese, parsley and olive oil along with salt and pepper.
But the Atlanta-based hospitality expert does draw the line when it comes to a salad using only watermelon. “If that’s the case, you might as well just sit down and slice the watermelon,” she laughs.
“Honestly, if it’s a great watermelon, it’s going to have its own juice. So you can just add some lemon, which is always great, olive oil and salt and pepper and that’s enough…Whatever floats your boat.”
Watermelon Pairings
With seasonal fruits in abundance, Moore says a watermelon salad paired with berries and peaches tastes amazing. “I would say do like-minded things; I would select something that would be light,” she says about flavorful matches with watermelon.
But she cautions, “I wouldn’t necessarily do a watermelon with a strawberry. I don’t want the strawberry to take on the flavor of the watermelon or vice versa.” She says the key is to select fruits that won’t overpower watermelon’s flavor.
Other fruit pairings to avoid with watermelon, “I wouldn’t do papaya. I might do a mango if it’s very firm [but not under-ripe]. You don’t want apples with watermelon. You don’t want pears and watermelon. I wouldn’t do red cherries either, because I think that cherries have their own distinct flavor, but maybe a white cherry—that could go really nice.”
As for the commonly found grocery store watermelon and pineapple salad combo, the lifestyle expert says, “I know you go into the grocery store and you see the pineapple and the watermelon chopped up and mixed together. While I’m not opposed to that, if you want something refreshing, sometimes if the pineapple isn’t ripe, it can have a very bitter taste.”
Grilled Watermelon Salad
But when it comes to her personal preference, Moore says a grilled watermelon salad can’t be beat and is the best example of how to enjoy this hot-weather salad. ” In summertime, I love throwing everything on the grill! I like a little savory and sweet. That nice char on the watermelon is really good,” affirms the California native about her grilled watermelon salad recipe.
“I would add some fresh cucumbers to it, olive oil, salt, pepper, a little sugar. Sometimes I might even chop up a little arugula for a little spice.” To prep the salad, Moore keeps it simple by slicing the watermelon—whether in triangular wedges or half-moon slices is up to you—then places the slices on the grill.
“You just kind of wait to get a nice char,” she says about how long to leave the watermelon slices on the grill. “Wait for those nice char lines and the caramelization that happens with the heat and the natural sugars of the fruit.”
Once the watermelon slices are grilled, she’ll place each slice on a plate and begin “building” the salad by placing additional ingredients atop the watermelon. With the salad ingredients, the hospitality pro says to get creative.
“You could add a spring mixed salad on top of the watermelon slice along with cucumbers. Sometimes I’ll do prosciutto, peaches and cucumbers. It just depends on what we have in the refrigerator.”
Traveling to the Cookout With Watermelon
While a watermelon salad can be enjoyed anywhere (that’s the beauty of this dish), traveling to a cookout or picnic does require a little planning if you want to taste the salad at its best. “I would store everything separately,” she notes. “You want the watermelon to stay cold.”
She suggests placing the watermelon in a stainless steel, lidded container in your refrigerator—separate from the other salad ingredients.
“If you have it [watermelon and the other salad ingredients] all together, especially if you’re traveling, the watermelon might get soggy and you don’t want that,” Moore cautions. “You want the integrity, the consistency of the food to remain at its best. Make sure that you have your serving platter, or your bowl, and once you get to the cookout assemble the watermelon salad there. Everybody’s going to want to know what you’re doing anyway!”
TRY THIS RECIPE: Watermelon and Blueberry Salad With Lime
A Taste of History
“I think watermelon salad is a great take on freedom, on resilience and it’s fun,” shares Moore about this delicious dish. “You’re introducing something different that can go along with the rest of the meal and that is important.”
While enjoying a watermelon salad with family and friends this summer, think of it as not only an opportunity to flex your foodie creativity but also as a way to pay tribute to history.
