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Watermelon Mango Salad with Blue Cheese


Watermelon, mango, blue cheese and cayenne pepper combine sweet, savory and spicy flavors in a fresh, colorful summer salad.
Course Salad
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon chilled
  • 2 cups cubed mango, chilled (about 1 large mango)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves, packed (chopped or torn if large)
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • generous 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

  • This salad is at its best and most crisp tasting if it's nice and cold. Refrigerate the watermelon and mango beforehand or allow time for the cubed fruit to chill thoroughly in the refrigerator before assembling the salad. Combine the watermelon and mango in a large bowl, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to avoid mashing the fruit. Sprinkle the cayenne pepper over the fruit and stir gently to coat. Add parsley and lime juice and stir until just combined.
  • When you're ready to serve the salad, sprinkle about half of the blue cheese over it and gently fold in. Transfer salad to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon (the salad will produce a fair amount of liquid—the slotted spoon will minimize the amount in the finished salad). Sprinkle the remaining blue cheese over the salad and serve.

Kitchen Notes

Adjust the heat. I used a full 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper when I made this. You could tell. Even by our standards, the salad had quite a kick. I might use a tiny bit less next time I make it, so the heat is more of an accent and the freshness of the fruit flavors is the star. Adjust the heat according to your own taste buds—or those of your guests. You can always add more cayenne pepper, but you can't take it out.
For the blue cheese, go for the good stuff. Maytag, which can be found at Whole Foods (among other places) is wonderful for this. But any really good blue cheese will work. Just make sure it's fairly firm, not creamy. And don't buy the pre-crumbled stuff—the flavor won't be nearly as good. You'll notice you don't need a lot for this recipe. The blue cheese serves as a nice, sharp accent, balancing the sweetness of the fruit without overpowering it.