Orgasmic Watermelon Salad

Okay, I'm going to be up front with you. This dish is NOT Italian. However, I did serve it to a bunch of Italians whilst in Italy, so perhaps that's enough of a qualifier. They all loved it--the flavors are exotic for an Italian palate, but the flavor combinations are familiarly Mediterranean. The final flavor combination fireworks in your mouth: salty black olives, sweet and crunchy watermelon, creamy feta, oniony onions (okay--how do YOU describe onions?), and the gentle snap of mint. I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, Rachel Eats, whose beautiful pictures inspired me to upgrade my Canon lens.

So, without further ado...here's the recipe for an Orgasmic Watermelon Salad. Eat it sitting down, so you don't embarrass yourself by falling to your knees in rapture at the first bite.

Portions: About six

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small onions
• A couple handfuls of parsley (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped)
• 10 salty black Kalamata olives (I don't recommend canned or brine-packaged olives, and definitely not the tinny kind that you find on American pizzas)
• About six cups of chilled watermelon (the quality of the watermelon makes or breaks this dish, so get a good one!)
• 200g or a 1/2 cup of feta
• 6 Tbs of olive oil
• Lemon or lime juice to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• G-Spot Ingredient: Two sprigs of mint (add to taste here, I LOVE mint, so I added about 20 big leaves)

Peel and chop the onions and carefully slice into thin crescents (see photo). Take your time with this step--chunky onions will overpower this dish.

For the mint and parsley, pull off the leaves, wash and dry in a paper towel, then chop coarsely.

Remove the rind and seeds from the watermelon and chop into small chunks (just over 1/2 inch or around 2cm) pieces. Cut the feta into 1/2 inch pieces as well. Take the pits out of the olives and cut them into halves or quarters.

The salad, pre-feta

Put all the ingredients together in a bowl, pour the lemon and olive oil on top, then mix all the ingredients with your hands to keep make sure the feta and melon keep their shape.

Serve immediately.

Note: If you want to make it in advance, put the melon on the bottom of the bowl, the other ingredients on top, and the feta in a separate bowl. Store in the fridge so it chills. When you're ready to serve, add the feta, then the dressing, then also mix by hand.)