Pure perfection a.k.a. Honeydew Caprese Salad

Posted: March 23, 2012

Well folks, I went back to my Italian roots last night.  The recent blog post about my dear ol' Italian dad must've stirred something up inside of me!  As you may know, I've been doing a lot of experimenting creating in the kitchen the past week or two... which has been really FUN!  I want you to know, I have officially outdone myself.  This really was pure perfection... in the form of Honeydew Caprese Salad.  The flavors were exquisite, each bite juicy and mouth-watering:  a perfect blend of sweet and tangy and savory.  It was light, refreshing, and spring-y.  The honeydew melon was such a wonderful and surprising addition.  (I originally bought it to use in a juice recipe for this weekend).  Seriously, honeydew melon has found its calling in life.  As my dad would often say (and still does!) ~ "It was my best batch!!!!!!!!"  (Note the plethora of exclamation points :)  )

Introducing Honeydew Caprese Salad!

Here is a close-up of the fresh minced garlic:

Everything tossed in a big serving bowl:

And voila, the best caprese salad you'll ever eat:

I served it along with some open-faced sandwiches - leftover chicken from the Italian Polenta earlier in the week, on top of a piece of garlic parmesean bread, with melted provolone on top.  I had one, dear hubby had two.  I love getting multiple uses out of leftovers!  I feel so frugal and creative :)

My dad has a "famous" bruschetta recipe with a lot of the ingredients above, but it also includes sugar.  (And you know how I feel about sugar in general, added sugar, etc..!)  I sooooooooo want to try his bruschetta recipe, but substitute minced honeydew melon instead of the sugar!!!  I think it would be delicious AND healthier! 

My cute little watermelon:

And while we're on the subject of "melon", I have to share this cute pic of Babycakes from last weekend in her ADORABLE watermelon dress.  I love that cute squished up face :)  And she actually let me put a barrette in her hair for more than 2.3 seconds.  It was amazing and definitely picture-worthy!!! 

PS. Running is still going really well! I'm in the middle of week 2 (out of 12 for this particular Pooch to 5K program).  My running days are Wed, Fri, & Sun.  And today I'm going to attempt (focus on the word attempt) to do my run with the jogging stroller AND 2 doggies.  Yes, I know I'm crazy!!

Do ever use honeydew melon or another fruit as a sweetener?

Are you good at eating/using leftovers or repurposing food into new meals?

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

{Honeydew Caprese Salad}

Description

No sugar Caprese Salad, featuring Honeydew.

Ingredients

10 ounces
Grape Tomatoes (halved)
2 tablespoons
Olive Oil
1⁄4 cup
WHITE Balsamic Vinegar
5 cloves
Garlic (minced)
16 ounces
Fresh Mozzarella (cut up into 1 inch cubes)
1 cup
Honeydew Melon (diced)
10  
Fresh Basil Leaves (diced, or 1/2 Tbsp minced basil)

Instructions

Cut everything up.  Then, mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

Yields 6 Servings

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Comments

Submitted by Lauren @ Oatmeal after Spinning - March 23, 2012 - 7:56am

Watermelon is by far my favorite melon- and that dress (and your daughter!!) is just too cute! I have to be honest- if there's honeydew in a fruit salad, I usually pick everything else around it. I'm just not a fan. But- in your recipe- I'd try it. I can definitely see that the flavors would work!
I'm a big fan of re purposing leftovers! It's one of those things that you can get really creative with and I love that!
I'm meeting up with 4 other bloggers that I love (and have only met 2 of them before) in DC for lunch tomorrow. I'm so stoked! We were supposed to go to the zoo, but it's going to rain all day. Oh well- at least that won't ruin us going out to eat!

Submitted by kelly - March 23, 2012 - 8:11am

I TOTALLY hear you on the usual picking-the-honeydew-out-of-the-fruit-salad b/c it's usually the worst thing in there and just for "filler"... but wow, in this caprese salad, it is just PERFECT!! It's finally found its calling in life :)

How fun on your blogger meetup! Wish I could join you... too bad I'm MORE than halfway across the US... ha! Hopefully the rain will letup at some point so you can venture out and see all those animals :)

Submitted by V - March 23, 2012 - 12:55pm

Ok, even for a veggie hater such as myself, that salad looks AMAZING! Will def have to try it. I am in love with that watermelon outfit. Where did you get it? I must get one for S for the summer. And I'm glad my daughter is not the only one who pulls out every bow or pony/pigtail I put in her hair.

Submitted by kelly - March 23, 2012 - 12:57pm

We got it last summer :( at Gymboree. I basically NEVER shop there (too expensive!!) but my parents found this dress, and we had to have it. She wears it now as more of a tunic over black capris ( I think the actual dress is like a 12 month size, but it's A-line and flowy).

Submitted by Kristin W. - March 24, 2012 - 9:00pm

Hey! Random question from one busy mom to another... when do you run? I struggle to fit this into my day. Morning is busy already, hard to take a break during work and look somewhat normal when I return, and evenings are hard to break away from what little family time we have. Any advice? I'd love to hear how others are fitting it in!

Submitted by kelly - March 25, 2012 - 9:57am

I was running 2 weeknights a week right when I got home... so around 5:30, before dinner. Hubby would take Babycakes to the park while I ran with one or both doggies. They were having fun together so I didn't feel like I was neglecting the fam. We'd have a grand meet-up at the park, play a little more, then head home for dinner. It wasn't easy, but only twice a week made it doable. Then I'd either go on Saturday or Sunday to round out a 3x a week running plan.

BUT, my work schedule recently changed so now I have Wed. mornings & Fri. afternoons off. So now I run those days while hubby is still at work and round it out with Sunday.

Submitted by Micah - May 28, 2012 - 3:46pm

I'm on day 3 of a juice fast and I'm trying to collect recipes I can eat after I come off. I would love to try the salad, but I shouldn't have cheese or bread (yeast). Also, I was wondering if the basil is really strong in this recipe? Thanks Micah
Please feel free to send me recipes that would be helpful for coming off the juice fast to Kayya_95@yahoo.com...it would be greatly appreciated. :)

Submitted by Lynnetta - June 29, 2012 - 11:44am

Summer is not my favorite season but things that make it a little more bearable are watermelon and caprese salad. I made the honeydew caprese salad last night and I am in love! Like so many other folks, I always eat around the honeydew in a fruit salad, but after this, I'm wondering what else I can do with honeydew! Thank you for a great recipe. And I paired it with the smashed blackberry grilled cheese. A delightful summer dinner!

Submitted by kelly - July 1, 2012 - 6:45pm

Thanks for the nice comment Lynnetta! I'm so glad you made this caprese salad and loved it as much as I do :)

Submitted by Tamar - December 20, 2012 - 8:07pm

This sounds delish. Going to try it!

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