Cantaloupe Salad

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Honey sweet shaved cantaloupe combined with snow peas, rocket, pine nuts and parmesan delivers a delicious fresh salad perfect for summer or alfresco entertaining.

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Why You’ll Love Cantaloupe Salad
How to Make a Vegetarian Carpaccio
Recipe Overview
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Instructions
Great Mains for This Salad
Frequently Asked Questions
Recipe

Why You’ll Love Cantaloupe Salad

I love traditional carpaccio. Made with thinly sliced raw beef, layered with rocket, pine nuts and parmesan, then drizzled with high quality extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

To serve beef raw, you need to have high quality and super fresh cuts. With this in mind, I sometimes like to make a vegetarian version to curb the cravings. Yes, a vegetarian carpaccio will not have the same meaty tastes, but it will deliver the overall refreshing flavour.

This cantaloupe salad is my version of a vegetarian recipe for carpaccio. The sweet honey flavours of shaved cantaloupe mingled with rocket, pine nuts and parmesan recreate the essence of carpaccio, but I’ve added raw snow peas to level up the texture and flavours.

A delicious fresh salad perfect for summer or alfresco entertaining.

How to Make a Vegetarian Carpaccio

You can, of course, use other vegetables or fruit to make a vegetarian carpaccio. But, essentially, you want a balance of sweet, savoury and various textures.

Beetroot carpaccio would be possibly one of the more popular vegetarian recipes for carpaccio. You can serve raw and marinated slices of beetroot together with goat cheeses, herbs and nuts. Using different varieties of beetroot would give the plate spectacular colours as well.

Another great option would be green and yellow zucchini ribbons on a bed of rocket leaves with shaved parmesan. Raw zucchini ribbons are light, refreshing and carry other flavours very well. Try them in our fresh salads like Salad of Courgette or Smoked Salmon Salad.

Watermelon is probably the most common fruit used in vegetarian carpaccio. Contrasting sweet watermelon flavours against the savoury cheese and peppery rocket works a treat.

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: There is a combination of soft and crunchy textures that work well in this cantaloupe salad.

The juicy layers of shaved cantaloupe combined with fresh snow peas, rocket and pine nuts are yum. And then to balance it all with salty shaved parmesan just tops it all off.

Ease: The only real challenge in this recipe is shaving cantaloupe, as it is not a process I often do. It is a lot easier with mandoline or Y peeler to get thin slices.

Time: A quick and easy salad that can be achieved in less than 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Cantaloupe: When choosing a cantaloupe at the market, they should feel heavy, firm and aromatic. Avoid ones that have dark or soft spots.

I am using only ¼ of cantaloupe in this recipe, so you don’t need the whole melon if you can purchase a cut melon. However, cantaloupe is a delicious fruit to eat, so we are always happy to finish off anything leftover.

Snow peas: As we are eating snow peas raw, make sure you have a fresh bunch. Good snow peas will have a good snap when broken in half and not feel limp when you pick them up. Choose ones that are bright green and can see tiny pea pods inside.

Pine nuts: The buttery flavours of pine nuts add a little extra crunch to the salad. I love toasted pine nuts; the aromas are so warm and fragrant.

Rocket leaves: Peppery rocket leaves (arugula) will add balance to the sweetness of the cantaloupe in the salad.

Parmesan: The final element of balance in the salad, parmesan delivers the savoury kick that is much needed. By shaving the parmesan cheese against shaved cantaloupe, the flavours will not overpower.

Variations and Substitutions

Substituting cantaloupe: You can try other melons with this recipe. For example, honeydew or a canary melon would work well. You can even try watermelon, but I still believe cantaloupe would suit the best.

Vegan option: to create a vegan option, try replacing the parmesan with a vegan option or omit it and add walnuts and capers for a more savoury balance.

Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make Cantaloupe Salad:

How to Make the Salad

Remove rind of cantaloupe and scoop out seeds. Cut into thick wedges, so it is easier to hold to shave.

Use mandoline or Y peeler and shave cantaloupe into thin slices.

Shaving a wedge of cantaloupe on a mandoline next to a bowl of shaved cantalpoupe

Top and tail snow peas and thinly slice into long strips lengthwise.

Bowl of whole and thinly sliced snow peas

Over medium heat, lightly toast pine nuts until golden brown.

Wash and shake dry rocket leaves.

How to Assemble the Salad

In a small mixing bowl, place rocket leaves and sliced snow peas together.

Then dress rocket and snow peas with ½ extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

On a large serving plate, layer shaved cantaloupe on the bottom.

Place dressed snow peas and rocket leaves on top.

Then scatter toasted pine nuts and shave parmesan directly on top of the salad.

Finish with the remaining extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve.

Great Mains for This Salad

Looking for a great main to have with this delicious Cantaloupe Salad?

BBQ chilli burgers with spicy guacamole: These are wonderfully delicious and full of zing! Made with minced steak, coriander leaf, green chilli and cumin then topped with a spicy guacamole.

For the perfect family roast you can try your hand at grilled spatchcock chicken or if you prefer to quickly cook up some pork chops, this simple skillet pork chops might just be for you!

Frequently Asked Questions

Will cantaloupe ripen after harvest?

Yes, cantaloupe will continue to ripen after harvest. The fruit will not get any sweeter with age, but cantaloupe will become softer and juicer as it continues to ripen.

To help the ripening process at home, place the cantaloupe in a brown paper bag at room temperature. A ripe cantaloupe will smell sweet and musty.

Can you eat snow peas raw?

Snow peas are edible pea pods – meaning you can eat the seeds and pods together. I love them, especially in quick stir fries.

So yes, you can eat snow peas raw—a great healthy snack. Young snow peas are best. Simply remove their hard outer string and eat the whole pod. When we have them in the garden, our snow peas never really make it to the kitchen, as we would pick them off the vines and eat them fresh.

Can I prepare this salad ahead of time?

This cantaloupe salad is best made close to serving. You can shave cantaloupe and slice snow peas in advance but only assemble at the time of serving.

What to do with leftover cantaloupe?

Like I’ve mentioned before, cantaloupe is a delicious fruit to eat as is. However, you can create other recipes with cantaloupe, including our Rockmelon and Passionfruit Salad with Chocolate Honeycomb or substitute the canary melon in our Canary Melon Salad with Halloumi.

Give this vegetarian cantaloupe salad a whirl when you have limited time but would like a deliciously fresh salad to impress the crowds.

It will be devoured in the same amount of time you take to prepare it. And that’s not much at all!

That’s all!

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