I often find myself craving something fresh, light, and different. I think it’s the extended hot weather we have been getting that led me to crave something like this.

The other night, I was in the kitchen trying to come up with something for dinner. I was thinking about salad and I didn't have many salad greens to work with, but I still wasn't willing to go to grocery stores for more ingredients. I had a small head of romaine to start as the main salad greens, but it wasn't enough to make a full salad, so I kept looking in my refrigerator for more ingredients that I might be able to use. I decided to include some onions cut into brunoise, shaved carrots, large diced watermelon, and chopped kalamata olives, then dressed with homemade balsamic vinaigrette – balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper, and olive oil.

The combination of the sweetness of watermelon and the unique salty kalamata olives flavor with the crispness of the lettuce and carrots, along with the sweet and tangy taste of the balsamic vinaigrette was the perfect salty and sweet flavor combination. It was exactly what I needed. Light and fresh, yet fun and interesting.