3 sweet-salty salads with watermelon and cheese

Have you noticed how hard it is to find a watermelon with seeds nowadays? There seem to be fewer every year, as seedless melons and melons that claim to be “all heart” push what I suppose we’ll now call “vintage” watermelons out of the marketplace.

Seedless watermelons are grown not for flavor but for their lack of seeds. Their flavors can be bland and the texture can be off-putting. They are OK for juicing, but little else.

Years ago, we had the most delicious watermelons in the world at several local farmers markets. Larry Fields grew them on a west-facing flank of Sonoma Mountain. He grew Sunshine, a yellow watermelon that has the purest taste and texture of any I have had, even the yellow watermelons I have enjoyed in Malaysia.

It was a sad day when Fields quit farming watermelons and shifted his focus to muskmelons and winter squash. He did so for two reasons. Watermelons are prone to viruses, and his field became infected. But perhaps worse were the raccoons, who are very good at knowing the exact moment of a melon’s ripeness. Fields would head out in the early morning to harvest melons and find many with big holes eaten out of the bottoms.

The last time I had his Sunshine melons, I took home 8 of them and ate little else until they were gone.

Now I’m waiting for the Crane Melon Barn to open in September. I’m hoping their yellow watermelon crop does well this year.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy watermelon, other than simply devouring it.

Halloumi is a cheese from Cyprus that can be made with cow, sheep or goat milk. If you can’t find it, Caciocavallo, from Sicily, is a good substitute. Currently, we do not have a comparable local cheese. In another week or two, we will have the first pomegranates of the season. They make a great addition to this salad; just scatter about a teaspoon of arils over each serving.

Fried Halloumi with Watermelon, Cilantro and Mint

Makes 3 to 4 servings

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces Halloumi, cut into ¼-inch thick slices

2 teaspoons best-quality red wine vinegar

4 cups watermelon in ½-inch cubes, seeds removed

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted

8 - 10 spearmint leaves, cut into very thin strips

Handful of cilantro leaves, torn into small pieces

Put just enough olive oil into a heavy saute pan to coat the bottom. Set the pan over medium heat. Add the cheese and fry until golden brown; turn and continue to cook until evenly browned on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Sprinkle the vinegar over the cheese, cook for 1 minute more and remove from the heat.

Transfer the fried Halloumi to individual plates. Set the watermelon alongside and season everything very lightly with salt and pepper. Scatter pine nuts, spearmint and cilantro on top and enjoy right away.

When you cut watermelon into cubes, aim for a size that is a perfect mouthful — not too large, but not too small. I prefer cubes that are about 2 inches. Use your fingers or the tip of a knife to remove seeds that don’t come out easily. Seedless watermelons are convenient, but they don’t have as much flavor as traditional watermelons.

Simple Watermelon Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts

Makes 4 to 6 servings

6 ounces feta cheese, drained and broken into small pieces

1 serrano, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Black pepper in a mill

6 cups watermelon cubes, seeds removed

2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted

4 or 5 mint leaves, cut into very thin strips

2 teaspoons minced cilantro leaves

Put the feta cheese into a bowl. Add the serrano, olive oil and several turns of black pepper and toss gently. Mound the feta in the center of a serving platter and surround it with watermelon. Scatter the pine nuts, mint and cilantro over the cheese and the watermelon and serve immediately.

In this salad, you have layers of flavor — mint, arugula, serranos and scallions, in addition to the watermelon — all of them refreshing on a hot day. Serve alongside grilled wild shrimp for a light but satisfying summer dinner.>

Watermelon, Arugula and Mint Salad

Makes 4 to 6 servings

3 handfuls fresh arugula

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cups cubed watermelon, seeded

2 serranos, seeded and minced

6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

12 - 14 very fresh mint leaves, very thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced

Juice of 1 lime

Black pepper in a mill

Put the arugula on a serving platter, toss with a little salt and drizzle with the olive oil. Turn the leaves gently until they are evenly coated.

Scatter the watermelon over the arugula. Add the serranos and toss very gently. Add the scallions, mint leaves, parsley and lime juice. Season with salt and toss gain. Grind black pepper over the salt and serve or cover with plastic wrap and chill for up to 1 hour.

Variation: Add fresh mozzarella, broken into small pieces, with the watermelon.

A classic dressing for cucumbers draws together all the flavors in this salad. Perhaps surprisingly, cucumbers and watermelon have a natural affinity. They are both refreshing, crisp and bright, perfect on a hot day.

Watermelon, Cucumber, Red Onion and Burrata Salad

Makes 4 to 6 servings

6 cups watermelon, from the heart, in ½-inch balls or cubes

1 Persian or Armenian cucumber, cut into ⅛-inch-thick half-moons

1 small red onion, quartered and very thinly sliced

¼ cup rice vinegar

Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

8 ounces burrata

1 tablespoon thinly sliced spearmint leaves

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, torn into small pieces

Put the balled or cubed watermelon into a wide and shallow bowl, add the cucumbers and red onion and toss very gently. Set aside.

Put the rice vinegar, lime juice, sugar and salt into a small bowl and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Stir in the red pepper flakes and pour over the watermelon mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To serve, put the burrata on a large serving plate. Toss the salad gently and spoon it over the burrata, along with all juices that have collected in the bowl.

Season with several turns of black pepper, scatter the herbs on top and enjoy right away.

You should have a roomy work surface set up with 3 large bowls, a large strainer and a big and sturdy cutting board, preferably made of wood. Set the strainer in one of the bowls. You will also need a food mill or an immersion blender and a big punch bowl or glass agua fresca container. An apron or T-shirt you don’t care about is essential, too. Make the simple syrup in advance, cool it and chill it. Have plenty of ice in the freezer.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Makes 10 to 12 servings

1 large ripe watermelon (not seedless)

Simple syrup (see Note)

Ice

Cut the melon in half lengthwise and cut each half into 3 lengthwise pieces.

Put the strainer in one of the bowls. Cut the fruit away from the rind and use your fingers to remove the seeds, holding the fruit over the strainer as you work. Let the seeds, little pieces of fruit and juice drop into the strainer. Put the seeded fruit into a second bowl. Continue until you have deseeded all the watermelon.

Lift the strainer out of its bowl and shake it so that juice will remain in the bowl. Discard the seeds.

If using a food mill, set it over a third bowl and pass the seeded fruit through it, using the small blade. All or nearly all of the fruit go through the mill; discard any that remains. Add the juice that drained from the seeds.

If using an immersion blender, use your hands to break up the biggest pieces of fruit. Press the blender directly into the fruit, moving it through the bowl so all the fruit is pureed and no big chunks remain.

Taste and add just enough simple syrup to brighten the flavor. Do not make it overly sweet. Fill a punch bowl or several pitchers about one-third full with ice and pour the watermelon juice over the ice. Stir and serve immediately.

Note: To make simple syrup, put 4 cups of sugar into a heavy saucepan, add 2 cups water and do no stir. Set over medium heat and when the sugar has dissolved, simmer for 2 minutes, until the liquid is completely clear. Remove from heat, cool completely, pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “The Good Cook’s Book of Salt & Pepper.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.