As a foodie, delicious food was a must at our wedding. We decided to have our wedding at one of our favourite restaurants. Our appetizer was this amazing Compressed Watermelon Salad. To this day, people still talk about it. This is my take on one of my favourite salads.
Compressing fruit is good way to add additional flavours or enhance its flavour. Using my Foodsaver, I’m able to remove the air from the watermelon and replace it with liquid adding an intense watermelon flavour. If you do not have a vacuum food saver tool, you can use a zip-lock bag to compress the watermelon, but liquid infusion will not be possible.
Ingredients
1 small watermelon
½ cup colourful cherry tomatoes
½ cup crumbled feta
1 cup arugula mix salad
1 tbsp Kraft Italian Zesty Lime Salad Dressing
Directions
Compressing the Watermelon Using Vacuum Food Saver
Cut the watermelon into cubes. Place ¼ of the watermelon cubes in a blender and blend the watermelon until it is liquid, about 1-2 minutes. If your watermelon has seeds, pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove them.
Place the watermelon cubes in a vacuum food saver bag, making sure the watermelon cubes lay flat and close to each other. Do not over-crowd the bag. Add a small amount of watermelon juice to the bag with the cubes. Vacuum seal the bag. This will remove the air from the bag and the watermelon will absorb the juice creating a more intense watermelon flavour.
Place the bag in the freezer for 3 hours.
Compressing Watermelon without a Vacuum Food Saver
Cut the watermelon into cubes. Place the watermelon cubes in a large zip-lock bag, making sure the watermelon cubes lay flat and close to each other. Remove as much air as possible and seal it.
Place the bag flat in the freezer with something heavy on top to weigh it down. Leave in the freezer for 3 hours.
Assembling the Salad
Slice the cherry tomatoes, season with a pinch of salt.
In a bowl, dress the arugula salad mix with the lime dressing.
Divide the dressed arugula salad mix in serving bowls. Top the salad with your compressed watermelon, tomato slices and feta. Serve the salad while watermelon is still chilled.
HOW TO CUT A WATERMELON INTO CUBES
- Cut your watermelon in half lengthwise.
- Then, cut each half in half to make 4 quarters of watermelon.
- Take one of the quarters and make cuts from the top part of the melon all the way down to the rind.
- Make 1 inch slices from one side of the melon to the other side.
- Take your knife and slice 1 inch strips down the length of the melon. (You are essentially making a crosshatch pattern on each quarter of the watermelon.)
- After the cuts are made, start from one edge of the melon and cut along the rind. The cubes should fall out of the rind really easily!
Source: Lil Luna
Meeesh's Kitchen 