This cantaloupe and radicchio salad is a delicious blend of sweet cantaloupe, bitter radicchio, salty feta cheese, cool mint, and crunchy pine nuts. A lime dressing pulls everything together in this satisfying summer salad.
The recipe makes 2 hearty large salads or four smaller side salads. The dressing recipe makes just over a 1/2 cup.
Tips
- If you are making four side salads, cut the cantaloupe into thinner slices, so that you still have three slices per salad. Use a little more feta than I list in the ingredients.
- To find a ripe melon, sniff the ends and check for a distinct scent of cantaloupe. The melon should feel heavy and not mushy.
- I recommend Bibb lettuce for the salad, but any soft lettuce will work, such as red leaf or a mesclun mix.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients to make cantaloupe radicchio salad.
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- A couple pinches cayenne pepper, or another flavorful hot pepper
- Kosher salt, to taste
Salad Ingredients
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 4 cups Bibb lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
- 3 cups radicchio, torn into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cantaloupe, skin removed, seeded, and cut into 6 long slices from top to bottom of the melon
- 2 ounces feta cheese
- 8 mint leaves, large middle stems removed
Directions
Make Dressing
Add the Dijon mustard and lime juice to a small bowl and whisk them together. Whisk in the olive oil. Add the pepper and salt and blend. Let it sit for a few minutes, so that the salt melts, then taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Toast Pine Nuts
Add the pine nuts to a skillet large enough that the nuts are in a single layer. Toast them over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring regularly, so that they don’t burn. Put the nuts on a small plate and set them aside for later.
Assemble Salad
Mix the lettuce and radicchio and put them in two large salad bowls. Arrange three slices of cantaloupe on each bowl.
Crumble the feta cheese over the salads. Tear the mint leaves into small pieces and sprinkle them over the salads, followed by the pine nuts.
Just before serving, whisk the dressing together again and pour most of it over the salads. Serve the remaining dressing on the side in case someone wants more.
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