Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil | www.floatingkitchen.net

Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil

This post was originally published here June 22, 2015. I’ve since adjusted the recipe slightly. And updated the photographs and text to reflect those changes.

My caprese salad obsession continues with this Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil. It’s sweet, juicy and refreshing. And it’s ideal for keeping you cool on the hottest days of Summer. Try it out for the 4th of July. Or for any of your upcoming Summer gatherings!

This Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil combines watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and cucumber with fresh mozzarella, basil, pistachios and a homemade herb-infused oil. It’s an easy recipe to make. Especially if you’re a wiz with the melon baller. I always loved helping my Mom make fruit salads because she would let me wield the melon baller. It’s such a satisfying activity!

Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil | www.floatingkitchen.net

But if you don’t have a melon baller, that’s totally OK! You can simply cut the melons and cucumber up into bite-sized cubes. It might not be as cute, but it will still be delicious!

Sizes of melons can vary greatly. But roughly you’ll need about 1/2 a cantaloupe and honeydew, 1/4 of a watermelon, and 1 large cucumber.

Cheers,

Liz

Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil

Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil

At a Glance:
Yield: Serves 6-8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes

Ingredients

For the Herb Oil:

  • 3/4 cups light olive oil
  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves

For the Salad:

  • 2 cups watermelon, cubed or balled
  • 2 cups honeydew, cubed or balled
  • 2 cups cantaloupe, cubed or balled
  • 1 cup cucumber, cubed or balled
  • 8 ounces fresh ciliegine mozzarella balls, drained
  • About 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn if large
  • About 1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
  • Flaky sea salt

Instructions

  1. In your food processor with the blade attachment, process all the ingredients for the herb oil until the herbs are finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and bring to a low simmer over medium heat for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Remove from the heat. Then strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing down on the solids to collect as much of the oil as possible. Discard the collected solids. The herb oil should be a light green color. Set it aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, cucumber and mozzarella. Drizzle with several tablespoons of the herb oil, tossing to coat. Stir in the basil leaves and pistachios. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.

58 comments on “Melon Caprese Salad with Herb Oil”

  1. Haha I love “balling” food too! And I think it’s definitely needed for these skewers. This looks fantastic, Liz! I love that you made a melon caprese flavor. Can’t get enough of anything filled with caprese! Yum!

  2. Hah I do love “balling” melons as well, so you’re not the only weird one :). And I personally LOVE non-recipe, recipes. Not all delicious things have to be complicated!

  3. Your mellon balls look downright perfect! And that herb oil? Mmmm.

  4. Balling is the best thing ever to do. And the best word ever to say. So I am deciding these skewers are BALLER.
    I am lame too, which is why we’re friends. Pinning!

  5. I LOVE balling foods! Is that weird? Whatever. To my crazy brain, balled foods on a stick just look so perfect, since they are all symmetrical and straight. SO pumped for all things skewer and summmaaa!

  6. These look beautiful! Pinning of course! Love the colors here and that herb oil sounds super yum, basil and cilantro are some of my favorite herbs!

  7. These balls. Must have! 🙂

  8. I cannot imagine anything more satisfying on a hot day. These sound SO refreshing! Ball everything. And I love the fresh basil with watermelon… yum. Also looking forward to eating your herbed oil with bread… lots of bread!

    • Oh yeah, the herb oil with bread = amaze-balls. See what I did there…? Ha. I think I’m funny. 🙂

  9. Hahha balling food does sound like a great idea!! And can we just drizzle that oil on EVERYTHING this summer? Thank you!!

  10. Liz!!! the mothership landed in Madison, WI (Sur La Table) and I got myself a melon baller, cherry pit remover and lots of other fun gadgets. . I’m all about the balling, yo! LOVE these skewers!!!

  11. I can’t remember the last time I tried balling food and I’m feeling a bit behind the times here. I’m loving your balls though – they are so colorful and festive! Food on a stick is perfect for a party because it frees up your other hand to hold the booze! 🙂

    • Well, I think balling was popular and then unpopular and maybe now becoming popular again? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll bring back a trend!

  12. I love balling fruit too! Even though it takes way longer than just slicing it, I swear those little balls taste better. And food on a stick is way better too. Loving this light and refreshing app!

  13. Wow, such beautiful balls!!!! –> Sorry, couldn’t resist.

  14. There are two gay Djs with a morning show in SF, and they have this segment called “Sassy Sports.” Their tag line is “If we’re talking about balls, I’m allll over it.” Love that tag line as much as I love these balls!

  15. Im a huge fan of balling And your balls look to juicy and flavorful. Loving it!

  16. These are beyond perfect for entertaining!!! Love them!

  17. Liz, these are the kind of recipes I LOVE! Simple and delicious! They look beautiful and the are perfect for summer parties at the beach! Awesome!

  18. Balling food and THEN putting it on a stick?! Satisfying AND genius! ♡ love your spin on caprese… and I agree we should all be eating a variation of caprese all summer long. Starting with these! Cheers, pretty lady!

  19. I’ve been yammering on about summer for months too. And I could ball food ’til the cows come home. These skewers are fantastic and they look so light and refreshing!

  20. I could just stare at these all day, they are so beautiful! I can only imagine how delicious, too! Love balled food 🙂

  21. These are gorgeous. I love the combination of sweet and savory. What a perfect appetizer for a summer get together!

  22. These are the cutest skewers I have see, so colorful and fresh, and I love the flavors, perfect addition to any picnic or barbecue party.

  23. Love these caprese skewers! Beautiful refreshing flavours! Definitely need to try these out! 😀

  24. Oh my gosh these look amazing! What an amazing flavor combination. Can’t wait to make some!

  25. Okay, 1. these look so amazing. So light and refreshing!!! 2. I saw your post on FB yesterday about all the “ball” comments, but I am just now getting around to reading your actual post….and I must say…my favorite is “your balls looks juicy and wonderful” hahaha I mean, I’m sorry, I’m 5. But anyways, you should definitely do more posts with balls on a stick:) hahahhaa!

  26. Liz, these are so fun, and there are so many refreshing flavors going on with the melon, cucumber, and herb oil! Not to mention that they’re gorgeous to look at!

  27. I’m LOL at all the comments! Meee tooooo – Balls on a stick please!

  28. What’s in the herb oil?

    • Oooh great catch, Ashlie! The recipe got cut off, but I’ve fixed it now. The ingredients for the herb oil are in the recipe card. Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *