I ventured out to try a new cafe some months back which was tucked away down a side street in South Melbourne – Australia. The cafe had no name on the front and you could easily walk past it and not even realize it was there except for the hum of a crowd enjoying good conversation. No it was not a raw food cafe but you don’t always need to be at one to get a great salad.
The cafe was pulling a crowd so that tells you patrons like the atmosphere and the dining experience. This cafe was known for their coffee apparently. Confession: yes, I do drink coffee and I have also been known to take breaks from it regularly to give my body a rest even though I love the aroma and flavor. While the coffee at this cafe was nice, the cup was too small so two gulps and it was gone…well…..almost.
While I was there I ordered a watermelon salad. I enjoyed this dish and promised to make it myself in the near future. Finally the future became the now and I am glad to say I can share with you my own adapted watermelon salad recipe. I encourage you to get the ingredients and make it while the weather is good (well, it is Summer in Melbourne at the time of writing this and watermelon is full of pure water so great for staying hydrated in the heat). While you are at it, there are some other tasty, Savory Raw Dinner Recipes here. My ingredients for the watermelon salad recipe are only slightly different from the dish I had in South Melbourne but OH MY….the taste sensation for MOI recipe was amazing, if not better.
I also enjoyed the crunch factor of this salad. It is important that we get our jaw working and the snow peas along with the fancy lettuce will do this for you for your enjoyment. 
You will be surprised how good the avocado tastes with the watermelon and dressing.
I literally threw this salad together and it is all organic too. I am fortunate that my local organic shop has cheaper and fresher produce than my local supermarket. Once you start eating organic, you really start to notice the difference between conventional and organic produce. For those of you who want to buy some affordable organic goodies then I encourage you to visit the Fruit Peddler in Westgarth, near Northcote or Westgarth cinema. They have a great range for the raw foodist, vegan or vegetarian.
Watermelon Salad Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 x fancy lettuce
- 3 x tomatoes or 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
- 1 x avocado
- 10 to 15 snow peas
- 3 large handfuls of watermelon
- 1 handful of dried cranberries (no sugar or nasties added)
- 10 dried golden berries
- 1/2 cup filtered water
Method:
Before getting the other ingredients ready, take the cranberries, golden berries and leave them to soak for 1 to 2 hours with the 1/2 cup filtered water in your blender then blend them up until smooth consistency.
Then:
Cut the bottom off the fancy lettuce and rinse under filtered water , place in salad bowl
cut tomatoes up into desirable shaped pieces
slice avocado
cut ends off snow peas and cut each one in 1/2 or 1/4
cut watermelon into large cubes (approx 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches which is also about 4cm x 4cm)
Toss all ingredients (except sauce) with the fancy lettuce and then drizzle the sauce…..eat…..and I doubt once you have made it, no-one will be able to stop you!
If you want to add extra good fat for your kids, then soak a handful of nuts with the berries or add coconut flesh for a slightly different flavour. Or, if your kids are not big fans of avocado then you can blend it with the sauce.
A lot of the time raw food recipes can be simple and still taste great. You don’t always need ‘gourmet’ style raw food to be excited about what you are eating.
Let me know what you think by leaving your comment below.
Give yourself the power to roar!
Eileen.
Disclaimer:
I’m no medical expert and information contained on this blog is written with the aim of furthering your education on health and raw food. It is your responsibility as to how you use this information and I cannot be held liable for any misinterpretation or misuse of the information provided.