Summer Salad

My inspiration for this salad came from two places, I found this picture on TasteSpotting and I remembered a salad I had eaten at Nemo in South Beach. The above picture was originally located on a food blog completely in Finnish and none of the online translators could translate it fully, so I improvised.

This experiment turned out smashingly well. I took it to the inlaws' for hubby's dad's birthday dinner, and everyone loved it. Considering it was a super hot day this was refreshing to eat, and just the right flavor mixture with the sweetness of the watermelon and the saltiness of the feta.

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Spinach, fresh greens or Butter Lettuce
Watermelon - cut into triangles about 1/4" thick and about 2" across
Feta Cheese - cut the block in half diagonally to create a triangle, then slice 1/8" thick
Toasted nuts/seeds - (I used pine nuts and pumpkin seeds)

Dressing
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (depending on how garlic-y you want it)
1 teaspoon coarse salt (I used Kosher salt because that's what was in the cupboard)
Pinch of freshly cracked pepper (I used normal pepper)

Combine everything in a bowl and whisk together until blended. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To toast the nuts: simply place them in a skillet on med/hi heat. Pine nuts will start to look toasted and raw pumpkin seeds (de-hulled) will pop and crackle in the pan. It should take only 2-5 minutes to toast both.

Pour the dressing on the spinach/lettuce and mix it up so the greens are coated. Next, sprinkle the nuts on top and finally place the watermelon and feta on top.

I'm cautious of throwing it all in the bowl and mixing it up that way because I was scared of wrecking the cheese and watermelon triangles.

Next time if I serve this at my place I'd like to serve it up individually on plates so it would look nicer.