A refreshing salad is an ideal antidote to Sydney’s sticky summer days and nights. My inspiration for this Watermelon and Fennel Salad came from a conversation I had with my fellow foodie friend Stephanie who described a juicy fruit based salad that made my mouth water. 

I’m sure there are several variations of this dish – Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine features one in this month’s issue.  The salad pictured above is my version, which includes one of my all time favourite salad ingredients – FENNEL. Take the time the shave wafer thin rounds of baby fennel which then seem to comfortably drape over the wedges of glistening watermelon and tiny sweet grape tomatoes. Select a watermelon that is an appealing, healthy looking watermelon pink, on the firm side and remove any seeds. 

I enjoyed this salad so much, that I ended up eating only this for dinner, despite insisting that my children have a “bit of everything” – briefly Barbecued Fillet Steak, Warm Potato Salad with fresh coriander and lemon butter dressing and my mother-in-law’s popular Garlic Veggies. 

Watermelon and Fennel Salad to serve 4 people as a side dish
This recipes can be doubled or even tripled if cooking for a crowd. 

3 cups of diced watermelon, bite-sized pieces.
200 g grape or cherry tomatoes – the sweetest you can find, sliced in half 
1 baby fennel, thinly sliced using a potato peeler or mandolin, plus the soft green fronds simply torn into strands. 
1/2 cup coarsely sliced mint leaves
100 g Greek feta, diced
black pepper
1/2 tablespoon each of verjuice and extra virgin olive oil. 

I think this salad looks sensational in a wide, shallow serving platter. This also allows the tomatoes and watermelon to easily absorb the flavour from the fresh mint leaves. I found leaving the salad at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving helps this process along. 

Scatter the watermelon and tomatoes evenly across the platter, followed by the fennel, feta and mint leaves. Grind over a small amount of black pepper and drizzle the verjuice and olive oil. 

This would also be a popular partner to plump fillets of white fleshed barbecued fish such as barramundi or blue-eye.