On my bookshelf at home, my copy of The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins has a recipe for chicken salad with pale green fruit, and it's got a scribbled notation on it. "Excellent*" it says, though frankly, it's a little tough for me to tell if the handwriting is mine or my mother's. (I inherited the book when she passed away.) The combination of cucumber, honeydew, and green grapes, my springboard for this recipe, has enthralled me since I first ate that dish many years ago.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 medium honeydew, seeded, flesh scooped with a melon baller
  • 1/2 medium English cucumber, seed membrane scraped out, cut into half moons
  • 1/2 pound seedless green grapes, cut in half (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1 tsp. canola or olive oil
  • 1 tsp. water
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
  • 4 large fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced

Directions


In a large serving bowl, combine the honeydew, cucumber, and grapes.

Whisk the lime juice, oil, water, honey, and poppy seeds in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, and pour over the honeydew mixture. (Scrape any stubborn poppy seeds onto the salad.) Top with mint, give a good stir, and serve immediately.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Ripe © 2012 by Cheryl Sternman Rule, Running Press, a member of the Perseus Book Group.

More Delicious Sides
Published 05/07/2012

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