Picking out a good watermelon can be tricky, but Cameron Froment, Sauce Pizza and Wine director of operations, offers these tips: The watermelon should be heavy for its size and should feel dense and weighty like a bowling ball; the ground spot (where the melon touches the ground while ripening) should be “creamy mustard” color; and the rind should be shiny and hard. Find all three attributes and you should score a sweet melon, he says.
To take advantage of the growing season, Sauce offers a watermelon and arugula salad that’s a customer favorite, Froment says. “It’s a light, crisp and refreshing salad with jicama and pumpkin seeds for texture and feta and white balsamic dressing (to add) depth. People clamor for it.”
Watermelon and Arugula Salad
Ingredients
5 oz. 1″x1″ cubed watermelon
3 oz. spinach & arugula blend
2 oz. jicama, cut into batons
1.5 oz. white balsamic vinaigrette
1 oz. feta cheese
1 tbsp. roasted pumpkin seeds (salted)
0.5 oz. julienned red onion
Dressing
8 oz. white balsamic vinegar
16 oz. oil blend, 75 percent canola and 25 percent olive oil
2 tbsp. honey
Kosher salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Preparation
For dressing, whisk together all ingredients except the oil. Incorporate the oil by whisking in slowly or using a blender. Pour a little bit over the salad and add more to taste.
To assemble
Combine the watermelon, jicama, spinach and arugula blend with the vinaigrette in a mixing bowl and garnish the salad with crumbled feta and pumpkin seeds.
