Watermelon and Feta Salad Revisited

One of my most popular blog posts on Kitoula’s Greek Food Journal is my quick and easy recipe for Watermelon and Feta Salad.

It’s a refreshing summer time classic and has just six simple ingredients:

  • watermelon – cut in bite size pieces
  • feta cheese – crumbled
  • red onion – sliced thin
  • mint leaves – small individual leaves or chiffonade
  • lemon juice
  • and honey.

Toss lightly in a bowl and serve.

For this watermelon and feta salad revisited blog post, I made a video!

And a big shout out to Lumen5 for the wonderful video editing application.

Feta Lamb Burgers & Mint Aioli

Here’s my recipe for grilled feta burgers with fresh herbs, topped with mint aioli.

Feta Lamb Burger Ingredients

The ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery; ground lamb, fresh herbs, onion, and feta. I buy Dodoni feta at Costco, but 2 or 3 brands of crumbled feta are in most markets now. These herbs are from my garden. I have a decent size patch of Greek oregano, but I used dry oregano in this lamb mixture. Fresh oregano can be a very strong and over powering herb.

Feta Lamb Burger Patties

This recipe will make 4 to 6 lamb burgers, depending on the size you want.

Mint Aioli Ingredients

The mint aioli is a really quick recipe. You can make aioli from scratch, whipping eggs and olive oil. I took the easy route and used Hellmann’s mayonnaise as the base. The mint is from my garden. I have it contained, so I let it flower. The bumble bees love it.

Mint Aioli

I like to make this aioli with a lot of flavor, so add the garlic and dry mustard slowly. Taste it as you mix, to make sure it has just the right amount of zing for your taste buds. You know the rule. You can always add more, but you can’t take away.

Feta Lamb Burger 2

It’s an easy recipe for a delicious alternative to ordinary hamburgers. Enjoy!

Feta Lamb burgers & mint aioli
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe for grilled feta lamb burgers with fresh herbs and topped with a mint aioli.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Greek / American
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • LAMB AND FETA BURGERS
  • 1½ pounds of ground lamb
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • ½ large onion diced
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons for vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste (remember the feta is salty)
  • FRESH MINT AIOLI
  • 1 cup mayonaisse
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or if you prefer, 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced and smashed into a paste)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. LAMB AND FETA BURGERS
  2. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, toss in the diced onions
  3. Bring the pan to medium-high heat and cook the onions for 5 to 10 minutes
  4. Turn the heat off and let cool.
  5. In a large bowl, add the ground lamb, onion, feta, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, soy sauce and vinegar
  6. Mix well with your hands
  7. Form the lamb mixture into 4 to 6 patties (depending on the size you want)
  8. Grill the burgers to your desired doneness, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
  9. FRESH MINT AIOLI
  10. In a small bowl , mix together well the mayonnaise, chopped mint , dried mustard, garlic, salt and pepper

 

Chef Diane Kochilas’ Greek Feta & Red Pepper Dip

Greek Feta & Roasted Pepper Spread

Tonight I roasted some peppers and made Diane Kochilas’ Greek Feta & Red Pepper Dip. Chef Diane is an internationally-known cookbook author, food writer, culinary teacher and consultant. She has written 18 books on Greek and Mediterranean cuisine.

Roasted Peppers 1

Roasting peppers is easy. I did it on my grill. Just let them get blackened on all sides.

Roasted Peppers 2

It will take several minutes on each side.

Cover Roasted Peppers

Once they are blackened put them in a bowl and cover them tightly with foil or cling wrap. Let them sit in their steam for 5 – 10 minutes.

Greek Feta, lemon, oregano & tabasco

While the peppers are steaming, get together the ingredients to be combined in a small food processor. 6 oz. of feta, lemon, oregano, hot sauce and extra virgin olive oil.

Roasted Peppers steamed 10 min

The peppers need to cool and then peel off the blackened skin. It should come off easily.

Skin peeled roasted peppers

Slice the peppers so you can lay them flat and remove the seeds.

Blend feta, peppers, lemon, EVOO

Blend the feta, 1 red pepper, lemon, oregano, hot sauce and extra virgin olive oil until smooth. The dip is great with pita bread or pita chips. Let me know if you like it.

Roasted Peppers & olives

I also made a salad with the rest of the roasted peppers by slicing them in long strips and adding a minced large garlic clove, sliced large olives and extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Chef Diane Kochilas' Greek Feta & Red Pepper Dip
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Roasted red pepper and feta cheese dip
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizers / Spreads & Dips
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • Roasted red pepper
  • 6 oz. of feta cheese
  • juice from ½ lemon
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano
  • ½ tsp hot sauce or to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. Roast red pepper
  2. Once blackened put in a bowl
  3. Cover tightly with foil or cling wrap 5 – 10 minutes
  4. Blend feta, red pepper, lemon, oregano and hot sauce in processor
  5. Add extra virgin olive oil until smooth
Notes
See photos from my blog post for more details

 

Watermelon and Feta Salad

There are a lot of recipes online for watermelon and feta salad. I found one from Giada De Laurentiis, another one from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, and yet another from Paula Deen. Of course, my online friend from Toronto, Peter, has a great recipe as well.

I combined watermelon, feta cheese, red onion and mint leaves from my garden with a dressing of lemon juice and honey. It’s simple and delicious. Try it. You’ll be surprised how really good these combination of flavors are. Let me know if you do make this salad and how it turns out. I like feedback!