I rarely give away my favorite recipes, because I prefer that you come to my house and be my friend to get the goods. In fact, when I posted recipes on occasion (Mother’s or Father’s Day) on my Violettes by Becky blog, I don’t believe any were a special favorite. But I want you to visit this web site repeatedly, so here is an amazing recipe that I recently discovered.

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Total: 30 min, Prep: 15 min, Cook: 15 min, Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1/2 (5-pound) seedless watermelon; 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar; Extra-virgin olive oil; Kosher salt (specialty salt is great here, if on hand); 2 cups fresh baby arugula, washed and dried; cup goat cheese, crumbled, preferably a French Chevre; Fresh finely cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Watch how to make this recipe. Stand the watermelon half cut side down on a cutting board and slice away the rind, leaving a solid block of melon. Turn the block on its side and cut it into 8 squares, roughly 3 by 3 inches and 1-inch thick. Pour the vinegar into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to a thick syrup consistency. Set aside. Heat a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle just enough olive oil over watermelon slices to thinly coat and place on hot grill pan. Grill each side about 2 minutes until grill marks appear; transfer to a plate and season with salt. To assemble the salads, put about 1/4 cup of baby arugula on a serving plate, followed by a grilled slice of watermelon in the center, and top with a tablespoon of crumbled cheese and another 1/4 cup arugula. Add another watermelon slice and another tablespoon of cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Finish each salad with a very light drizzle of olive oil and balsamic syrup. Dust with black pepper and serve immediately.
A problem I ran into is cooking the vinegar too long, Step 2. It keeps on cooking by itself if you take it off the heat. It turned in to a hard ball, and I had to start over, and under cook it. That was perfect.