I want to preface this blog by stating that I have no hesitation in acknowledging and appreciating my strengths. Don't let anyone ever convince you that having characteristics that you like about yourself makes you narcissistic. Own it and fucking flaunt them. Strength one, for example, is my ability to take any gluten filled recipe, put my spin on it, and make it grain free and tasty. Literally, any. Throw one at me. Strength two? My eyelashes are really long, and I grew them myself. Complement me on either, I will accept it with grace.
However, like most women in their late twenties, I'm also very good at admitting my faults. Food styling and photography? Sad trombone.
Instead of continuing to beat myself up about it, I enlisted the help of Ashleigh from Amor Abode, Not only is her blog full of natural beauty product recipes (a girl after my own heart), but she is also an experienced photographer with her own business in Austin. This girl is seriously talented. Enough so, that next week she is shooting the cover for the upcoming cookbook My Paleo Patisserie by Jenni Hulet. (Side note: since we're idolizing the food photographers, lets take a moment to appreciate Jenni as well. Her instagram feed is full of delectable grain free pastries that make me go weak in the knees.) Needless to say, I had to have Ashleigh over for a styling and photography lesson. I can't wait to put all I learned into practice!
On to the recipe.
This salad tastes so refreshing with its crunchy texture and salty sweet flavor. I can't wait to try other variations on this recipe: a mexican version with crumbled queso fresco + paprika & cilantro, a greek version with feta + cumin, and an Anne Marie version with goat cheese + jalapeno (I love goat cheese and jalapenos.) Create your own version, and come back to share it with me!
Don't worry about using all of the dressing and drenching your salad, any leftovers will keep great in the fridge! I ended up having enough dressing left over to use on a green salad for me and James to eat the next day.
Cucumber & Watermelon Salad
Ingredients
For The Dressing:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For The Salad:
- 1 english cucumber
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 of a red onion
- 1 grapefruit
- 1/2 of a watermelon
- 10 leaves of fresh basil, plus a few whole leaves for garnish
Instructions
For The Dressing:
- Measure out all the dressing ingredients in a glass measuring cup
- Whisk to combine
For the Salad:
- Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, and onion into bite sized pieces. If the english cucumber is organic, you can leave the skin on
- Pour the dressing over top these ingredients and let sit to allow them to marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients
- In the meantime, remove the grapefruit segments from the pith and chop the watermelon and basil
- Add all ingredients in a bowl and garnish with basil leaves and sprinkle of coarse sea salt
Looks delicious! And, I definitely need to work on my photography skills for my blog… Love how your pics look! 🙂
Thank you, Laurel!
Beautiful! Excited to see how your photography style develops. Now I’m gonna have to make this salad:) cheers! -ash
It was really tasty! James ate it with Jackson Honest coconut oil potato chips, and declared it the best thing I’ve made. Bold statement to the baker about a non-baked good…
Beautiful photos!!! Food photography is definitely what I need to work on. Your cucumber & watermelon salad is perfect for summer. I’ve surprisingly never made a watermelon salad so I’ll have to try yours out! Oh & I have the same placemats : ) so cute!
I highly recommend having someone experienced help. It was fun and really beneficial. That being said, I think your photos are great!
It was the first time I’d made a watermelon salad and we loved it!