| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- Juice of 3 limes
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
- 4 cups chopped seedless watermelon
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons cocktail peanuts, roughly chopped
- Salt
- Peanuts, fried shallots or onions, for topping
Instructions
- Whisk together the vegetable oil, chopped shallot, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and jalapeno in a large bowl. Add the watermelon and toss to combine. Let sit 10 minutes.
- Add the cilantro, basil, mint and cocktail peanuts. Season with salt and toss. Top with more peanuts and fried shallots or onions.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 121 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 16 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 417 mg |
Reviews
Excellent summer salad
The fish sauce completely ruined the rest of the salad.
Paired with grilled Thai chicken wings (Bon Appetit recipe) for a perfect flavor-packed meal. The shallots add nice texture. Agree with TankGirl25 – use as a garnish and don’t combine into the salad.
Sorry, but I felt this was a colossal fail. The salty dressing was kind of okay with the watermelon, but the mint, cilantro, and basil flavors clashed horribly with the rest of the ingredients. Awful!
This is a WONDERFUL salad. It was a huge hit with all of the guests, and the flavor profile is such a departure from typical salads that contain fruit. We didn’t cut back on the lime juice, as Chefanie1311 suggested, but it is a good idea to strain your cut watermelon right before dressing the salad because the dressing and the melon will become too wet if you don’t. And wait to combine everything until right before serving. We did, however, fry three shallots for the rings of garnish because a previous reviewer had said they “disappear.” That was an excellent tip. It was definitely not too spicy; if anything, next time I’ll replace the jalapeno with serrano peppers or Thai bird chilies.
I really liked this salad. I enjoy adding chili powder and lime to my fruit, so this Asian inspired salad was something I had to try. Very refreshing. NOTE: I would recommend cutting back on the lime juice. Start with one, and then add more to your taste. I only had two limes and added the juice of both. The watermelon was swimming in dressing. However, the flavor combination is spot on!
LOVED this! I was a bit skeptical at first but it came out great! I would make way more fried shallots next time; we served them on the side of the salad and sprinkled them individually. I didn’t find the salad to be very hot (I do like things on the hotter side. I’m definitely making this one again!
EXTREMELY good salad to pair with any grilled meat, but I recommend for those who don’t like extremely spicy (HOT food to cut the ginger down by 2/3rds. A 2″ piece of minced ginger in only 4 cups of watermelon, paired with the red jalapeno was almost too hot for my Texas heat tolerance levels. Definitely will make it again, but cutting WAAAAAY back on that ginger. The fresh basil and mint from my garden pots was the crowining jewel. The fried shallots on top got lost in the salad. If served individually, they are pretty, but in a big bowl, forget it.
This is an absolutely wonderful salad. I made it for a potluck before a yacht club meeting. When the commodore opened the meeting, his first order of business was” Who turned those tomatoes into watermelon and made that awesome salad?” It was a real hit and I’ll make it over often.
Spicy 1
Spicy 1