Spicy Watermelon Salad with Grilled Mahi Mahi
By: diane padoven
Published: Friday, July 26, 2013 - 1:39pm

Ingredients




8 cups cubed watermelon, seeded
1-2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chiffonade*
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade*
pinch sea salt
juice from 1 lime
2 lbs fresh mahi mahi (each piece about 1 inch thick)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp paprika

Preparation

1 Add watermelon, jalapeno, mint and basil to large bowl. Sprinkle sea salt over salad and toss. Sprinkle lime juice over salad and toss.  Place in refrigerator until ready to use. 2 Drizzle approximately 2 tbsp olive oil over mahi mahi.  Season each side with sea salt, pepper and paprika.  Heat a grill to medium high heat or use a grill pan indoors. Place fish skin side down on grill and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and drizzle with olive oil. Cook an additional 5-8 minutes or until flesh turns white and begins to flake. Remove from grill and allow to sit for 1 minute. 3 Place fish on serving platter or individual plates.  Spoon some of the watermelon juice from salad over fish. Mound watermelon cubes over fish and serve immediately. 4 *for chiffonade:  stack the herb leaves on top of each other and tightly roll up lengthwise into a cylinder. starting at one end, cut the cylinder into very narrow slices.  after cutting, fluff herbs with fingers to create individual ribbons.

About

Watermelon is one of those perfect summer ingredients.  Sweet, cold and crunchy: but also perfect as a savory dish by adding salt, chilies, salty cheese, herbs, olives, etc.  I love to make watermelon salads and pair with grilled fish for an easy, breezy, quick and (if the fish is grilled outside on a barbecue) oven free meal.  This recipe is one of my favorites.
You can use any type of firm white fish but I really like Mahi Mahi with the watermelon. Feel free to adjust the measurements for any of the ingredients...more or less herbs, seasonings or chile...the salad is very forgiving.  If I were serving with grilled chicken, I would probably throw in some feta cheese. I sometimes use cilantro too.  Like I said...very forgiving.  Enjoy!