Grilled Watermelon Salad

Ingredients

Thai Salad Dressing
▢2 tablespoon lime juice
▢1 tablespoon fish sauce (if you do not have just add a little bit of salt to balance the dish)
▢1-2 chili peppers chopped (as desired to you heat liking). We used Thai bird chilis

Salad Fixings
▢2.5 pounds watermelon or about 6 slices or 4 cups (horizontally slice watermelon and leave on the rind)
▢2 cucumber small (deseeded, cut into lengthwise quarters -leave the skin on)
▢1 tablespoon oil olive oil to coat the cucumbers and grease the grill or grill pan
▢salt if desired, add to cucumbers while on the grill.
▢2 shallots or small red onion sliced (or can use green onion chopped if you like)
▢5-6 radishes sliced thinly
▢4 mini sweet peppers sliced (optional)
▢⅛ cup basil (chopped or whole)- if you can find Thai Basil fantastic otherwise just exchange with regular sweet Italian basil and its just as delicious.
▢⅛ cup cilantro chopped or mint leaves if you prefer
▢lime zest garnish - optional (if desired)
▢salt and white pepper to taste if desired

Method

--Prepare Watermelon
Step 1: Wash and dry your outer watermelon well. (Dry it well as you do not want a slippery watermelon)
Step 2: Grab a good and sharp butcher’s knife or in our case our Chinese cleaver.
Step 3: Choose a heavy-duty table with a large cutting board. Make sure your cutting board is held firm to the table. If not, a quick hack is to place a slightly damp dish cloth underneath the cutting board to keep it stable.
Step 4: Cut the watermelon in half. Set aside one half. (It is best to put the pointy end of the knife in the skin to get it started and then slowly rotate the knife and your melon around to cut all the way through) Now, you should have 2 halves of watermelon.
Step 5: Lay the watermelon’s cut side down on the cutting board.
Step 6: Cut 2-inch slices across the watermelon. Turn 180 degrees and slice 2-inch slices in the opposite direction. (Bravo and well done! You have made watermelon sticks)

--Prepare Cucumbers
Leave the skin on the cucumbers. Wash well. Cut ends off. Slice cucumbers lengthwise so they are about the same length of you watermelon sticks. Remove seeds with a spoon. Slice lengthwise again.
Toss the cucumbers in a little olive oil.

--Make the Thai Dressing
Mix lime juice, fish sauce and chili peppers together and set aside.
Grill and Combine
Clean and oil your grill or grill pan with a little oil. Preheat grill to a medium high heat.
Grill Watermelon and cucumber slices on the grill for just about 2-3 minutes on each side just to get a slight grill marks. Remove from grill. (We like to add a little salt to taste to the cucumbers while they are on the grill. )
Place the grilled watermelon and cucumbers sticks on a serving platter. Top with radishes, shallots and sweet mini peppers . Drizzle on the Thai vinaigrette dressing, basil and cilantro (or mint). Garnish with a little lime zest if desired.

Serve your Thai Grilled Watermelon Salad at room temperature or chilled to your liking. enjoy!