If you're going to have just a few go-to summer salads in your repertoire, you might want to consider including this one for kachoombar, a refreshing chopped Indian salad that usually combines tomato, onion and chilies. I learned to love this simple dish from many hours of cooking and eating with my good friend, chef Suvir Saran. Suvir serves kachoombar as part of a larger feast to help cut the richness of the overall meal. It pairs particularly well with his masala fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits.
Because I'm always experimenting in the kitchen, I once added ripe watermelon chunks to my kachoombar. I loved watermelon as a child but never understood why my grandmother insisted on always shaking a bit of table salt over her slice and then seemed to enjoy it almost more than the rest of us. But when I tossed watermelon with the lime, salt and chilies, the flavors were explosive and I finally understood how just a touch of salt and the sweetness of fruit combine to make for a satisfying bite.
Whether serving ribs, sausages, wings or grilled fish, this salad is a cool, sweet and spicy counterpoint to the Fourth of July table and easy to pack for camping or picnics. I always add a bit of finishing salt, like Maldon flake or Alaska Pure sea salt; it not only brings all the flavors together but, for me, it highlights the sweetness of past summertime memories.
Watermelon tomato kachoombar
4 cups fresh watermelon cubes
2 cups peeled and chopped cucumber
1 large ripe tomato, sliced
1 small red or spring onion, chopped
1 to 2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons combination chopped fresh cilantro and mint
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
1. Gently combine watermelon, cucumber, tomato, onion, jalapeno and lime juice in a large bowl. Season with salt and toasted cumin. Serve at once or cover and chill until ready to serve. If chilling, let sit at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving. Taste and add more lime juice or salt.
Kim Sunée is the best-selling author of "Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home." She ate and lived in Europe for 10 years before working as a food editor for Southern Living magazine and Cottage Living magazine. Sunée has appeared several times as a guest judge on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America." She lives in Anchorage and her latest cookbook is "A Mouthful of Stars." For more food and travel, visit kimsunee.com.