This post is sponsored by Target.
Between weddings, birthday parties and general summer
get-togethers (and even a few Palm Springs trips) my summer weekends are almost
booked solid. And that means I don’t
have a ton of time to be prancing around my kitchen making 3 hour long dishes
for visiting guests or to bring to a BBQ so I am always on the lookout for easy
yet impressive recipes. While out for
drinks with a friend a few weeks back, we had this amazing appetizer of
char-grilled watermelon and burrata topped with a simple yet spicy jalapeño
vinaigrette on a bed of arugula. The
flavors were light and fresh while still being interesting beyond the normal
(aka boring) summer salad, plus there was a hefty amount of cheese included so
that’s not hurting anybody!
On a Target run last week, I decided to grab all the
necessary ingredients to try to copycat the dish for some visiting
friends. I switched out the burrata for
fresh mozzarella balls. I had fully
intended to put the dish on a bed of arugula, but completely forgot to add it
in the rush of getting the house, myself and the dish ready before guests
arrived. For the jalapeño vinaigrette, I
finely chopped half a jalapeño and let it “steep” in extra virgin olive oil for
about 20 minutes then drained the oil to drizzle on top of the finished dish
along with some smoked Maldon sea salt.
The best part about this dish is by far the grilled
watermelon so make sure to save this part for right before your guests
arrive. The crisp fresh flavor of the
watermelon is intact, but heightened by the slight warmth and smoke flavor from
the grill. If you don’t want to fire up
the grill just for a simple dish you, can you use a cast iron griddle pan like
this to achieve the same effect.
Do you have an easy go-to summer dish that can be picked up
and assembled at a moment’s notice?
What’s on your #TargetRun?