Juicy watermelon goes fiery Thai in this savory summer salad tossed with peanuts, herbs and spicy fresh jalapeno peppers.
Thai Watermelon Salad
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
I had hoped to get this up about a week ago, but time slips by quick as I have been extraordinarily busy and squeezing it through on the weekend was hopeless as Bill and I had our 34th wedding anniversary on Saturday. Then the very saddening local news of Dayton had me pretty disheartened so my energy and drive dropped as well.
And originally I was going to post my recipe for Instant Pot BBQ beef with Foodie Extravaganza for National Sandwich Day but have managed to misplace the recipe. Either the file is hiding out on the computer or it is mixed in with papers that have not yet been transcribed to the computer. But don’t worry. I’ll find it and get that posted as soon as I can.
Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting that one. You can hop over and peek at the recipes the group is sharing here.
This salad is generally a dressed watermelon with an Asian vinaigrette. I had something on the order of it not too long ago at a BBQ hut down in the Wyoming neighborhood of Cincinnati. They did theirs on wedges, but I think I like mine in cubes. Plus the dressing was a little different, not as Thai as mine is. But I wanted to do something similar to the dressing I put on my bean sprout salad.
That recipe is always so very fresh and low calorie. Watermelon is very low-cal too. You can eat a bit more of it than other fruits, although last time I checked, WW was saying you could eat all the fruit you wanted (just not juice). Not sure if that is their current plan anymore but it was last year.
The flavor of this one will definitely appeal to anyone who likes Thai food, and especially those who like to salt their watermelon to give it a little savoriness.
Bill and I made short work of this one and will definitely be making it again and again.
You Might Also Like:
Thai Bean Sprout Salad
Curry Coleslaw
Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad (Yam Goong)
Blackberry Cantaloupe Salad
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum)
Thai Watermelon Salad
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 1 quart fresh watermelon cut into cubes and seeds removed
- 2 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce or nam pla
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, oil, lemongrass paste and fish sauce.
- Gently stir with watermelon, basil, cilantro and jalapeno.
- Garnish with chopped peanuts.
- Eat at once or chill if desired (for best flavor).
Notes
This recipe had my watermelon-hating son eating and liking watermelon. The asian flavors are wonderful with the watermelon and the peanuts are an extra treat. Thank you for a fun new twist on a summer staple.