Last Updated on December 7, 2018
The Last Salad of Summer – Watermelon and Feta 5:2 Diet Lunch Recipe:
Although it is very early in September, it is beginning to feel very chilly. And, in a way that has been a galvanising moment for me – I’ve seen variations on this salad in restaurants and on blogs throughout the summer and thought it would make an excellent light meal on a 5:2 diet fast day. Watermelon is another of those ultra-healthy good for you ingredients.
It’s apparently all down to something called Lycopene, which according to Wiki has anti oxidant properties and may even help to reduce the chance of particular types of cancer. Ripe tomatoes are also rich in Lycopene, so this salad serves up a double dose.
Of course, if it didn’t also taste good then none of this would be particularly helpful. But, as well as being healthy and low calorie, combined with a little feta cheese, some mint and some tomatoes it makes a really delicious and refreshing summer salad. I DO think you need mint to make it work. But I ran out of tomatoes and tried using up the remaining feta and watermelon with just a few black olives instead and that worked just fine. I suspect you could add cubed cucumber too.
- 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Small Tomatoes Cut into Segments
- 1/2 Lemon
- 150 g Watermelon Cubed
- 1/2 Medium Red Onion Finely Sliced
- 1 handful Fresh Mint
- 50 g Feta Cheese Low fat if you want to keep the calorie count down. But even with full fat feta, this salad is around 150 calories for a large portion
- 5-8 Kalamata Olives
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Squeeze the lemon juice over the onion and mix well. Leave to marinade for 5 minutes or so while you prepare the remaining ingredients
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Remove the mint stalks and gently tear the leaves up
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Mix the watermelon, tomato and mint leaves with the onion.
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Crumble in the feta and dress with a teaspoon of the best extra virgin olive oil you have. If you like, you can add a few black olives
It’s not an ultra ‘slimline’ salad because of the feta cheese, although of course, you could always buy the half fat variety if you want to cut the calories still further. Or omit the olive oil, which personally I think adds something special. But, it’s very filling and at least for me worked well for a 5:2 diet lunch on a fast day.
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
Never tried this combination before. It looks rather fab.
Pamela Morse says
I do like this combo, and harissa too adds some kick
Fiona Maclean says
oh I shall try it with harissa! sounds good to me
Rebecca says
I’ve had watermelon and tomato before but never thought of adding mint and feta – sounds delicious!
Jess @UsedYorkCity says
This is one of my go-to summer salads, soooo good and nice to know it’s healthy, too!;-)
Stevie Wilson says
this sounds heavenly and looks even better.