Sam Mannering’s cucumber, melon and soft cheese salad recipe
Sam Mannering reckons it is time to give the melon a glow up.
I’m a bit of a watcher at the supermarket (I mean that in the nicest possible way). I tell myself that it’s part of the job, keeping an eye on what people are buying and not buying; what compels them to choose one bit of produce above another. It’s also curiosity. There are the usuals. Bananas, of course, chicken (why do people always go for breast – thigh is so much better), blah, blah blah. Rarely do I see people ever going for melons. Usually they’re shunned to the likes of hotel breakfast buffets and bland corporate catering, slices arranged in little fans (presumably, to invoke a sense of exotic luxury). Time to give the melon a glow up, methinks.
Over summer, which is their peak season (we grow them here, by the way), it’s worth having one in the fridge that you can tap into. They don’t have to be relegated to breakfast, either.
You can use any soft white cheese really – chevre, fromage blanc, that sort of thing. Clevedon Buffalo Co’s marinated soft cheese is astoundingly delicious (go out of your way to find it, trust me, it’s that good).
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Cucumber, melon, mint and soft cheese salad
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: Zilch
SERVES: 4 as a side
Half a cucumber
¼ of a honeydew melon
About 150g soft fresh cheese (see note)
Handful of mint leaves, roughly torn
2 tbsp roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
½ lemon
Good olive oil, for dressing
METHOD:
Using a hand peeler, peel the cucumber into long, thin ribbons.
Using a sharp knife, remove the skin from the outside of the melon. Using the peeler, carefully peel long ribbons of melon, just as you did with the cucumber.
Spread the cheese out on a serving dish. Arrange the cucumber and melon over the top.
Scatter the mint and the…
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