Watermelon & Feta Salad

Ingredients

800g seedless watermelon, cut into 3cm chunks
200g feta cheese, crumbled
Large handful fresh mint leaves, torn
½ small red onion, very thinly sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp Aleppo pepper (or pinch of chilli flakes)
Flaky sea salt

Instructions

Place the red onion slices in a small bowl of cold water and let sit for 5 minutes. This removes the harsh raw bite. Drain well and pat dry.
Arrange watermelon chunks on a large serving platter. Scatter the crumbled feta and drained onion slices over the top.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust — it should be bright and acidic to cut through the sweet melon and salty feta.
Drizzle the dressing evenly over the salad. Sprinkle with Aleppo pepper for a gentle heat and fruity flavour.
Tear the mint leaves and scatter over the salad just before serving. Finish with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Serve immediately while the watermelon is cold and crisp.

Nutrition (per serve)

185 Calories

7g Protein

18g Carbs

10g Fat

The Story

This is a high-key image. Bright, clean, minimal shadows. Watermelon is mostly water and sugar — it's sweet, crisp, refreshing. Feta is salty, creamy, tangy. The combination is stark: sweet against salt, soft against firm. It's a study in contrast, not subtlety.

Mint adds aromatics. Lime juice adds acid. Aleppo pepper adds a gentle, fruity heat — it's less aggressive than regular chilli, more complex. The red onion is there for sharpness, but you soak it first to soften the bite. Raw onion straight from the bulb is too harsh. Five minutes in cold water mellows it without killing the flavour.

You serve this in summer, outdoors, when it's hot and you need something that doesn't require cooking. It's immediate. No development time, no long exposure. You assemble it, you dress it, you eat it. It's a snapshot, not a portrait. Sometimes that's exactly what the moment needs.