Morning, friends!  So this weekend was a bit of a rabbit hole for me.  I missed a boat, got a few rocks thrown in my general direction, flaked big time on a date, and got very, very confused. On the upside?  Joseph Gordon Levitt in Dark Knight Rises.  Crush.  And this watermelon salad.  They should pay me for these seamless segues.

I had this salad at Brooklyn Fish Camp a few weeks back and couldn’t get the taste of it out of my mind.  In true Smartest Cleverest fashion, I decided that nothing would do until I figured out how to make it.  Also in true S.C. fashion, the idea of carrying a watermelon up numerous flights also postponed this culinary experiment until this past week.

Here we are.  Five ingredients.  Watermelon.  Mint.  Capers.  Really good, pitted olives.  Goat cheese.

This is so easy you could make a small child do it.

The watermelon gets cubed.  I used a mixture of pitted Kalamata olives for their earthy brininess and green olives with herbs for their brighter punch, but a large handful of whatever good olives should be just fine.   Let’s say for a large serving of watermelon, you want a handful of olives in proportion.

The capers (a teaspoon full?) I let soak in water for a few minutes. Both the olives and capers get lightly smashed with a knife or other implement, as it will help them meld with the watermelon a bit better.

Tear up a small spring of mint and add it to the watermelon, olives and capers.  Give it all a good toss and let it hang out for about five minutes.  Repeat.  Add a few small dollops of a very fresh, creamy goat cheese (the Capri goat cheese from Westfield Farm in Massachusetts was perfect for this endeavor – thanks Murrays!) and you have yourself a lovely little summer meal.

Letting the salad sit longer will bring out the brininess of the olives and capers, so leave it up to your taste.  Also, I tried this with a French feta and didn’t like it as much, but my friend Jill loved it a lot.  Choose your own adventure.

Refreshing, slightly surprising, and soooo freaking good.  Hope you had a more successful weekend, and happy Monday!

love, grace