Freshen up your summer menu with this light & zingy watermelon salad with vegan Parmesan sprinkle. It’s a perfect addition to any summer party table, whether you are serving it as a starter or dessert. Vegan & gluten free.
I’ll be honest, we have been having such a glorious hot weather here in the UK that I’ve hardly spent any time in the kitchen recently. We’ve been packing our picnic baskets and heading off to the seaside after school. I’m so lucky to be living only forty minutes away from the sea. The British summer doesn’t normally last very long at all, so I’m taking full advantage of this glorious hot weather.
When I was packing some snacks for the beach last week, I thought I’d throw a quick fruit salad together with my favourite summer fruits – watermelon and strawberries. I didn’t want to make just a boring plain fruit salad but something with a little zing to it.
WHAT IS WATERMELON SALAD MADE OF?
We combine simple yet fresh, bursting with summer flavours ingredients:
- Watermelon
- Strawberries
- Basil
Then, we add a touch of sweet & sour zingy dressing made with lime, maple syrup and olive oil to lift up the salad flavours.
Finally, we add a new dimension of savoury flavour – vegan ‘Parmesan’ sprinkle.
WHAT GOES INTO VEGAN PARMESAN?
It’s a very simple recipe which calls for:
- Cashews
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Sea salt flakes
- Black pepper
Just add all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form.
Vegan ‘Parmesan’ sprinkle really compliments the basil and adds a new layer of savoury flavour to this watermelon salad and balances out the sweetness of watermelons and strawberries.
The vegan ‘Parmesan’ recipe yields a small to medium size jar. You won’t use all of it for the salad but it keeps well in the fridge. Sprinkle it all over your toasts, salads or any savoury dinner. I’m totally addicted to it at the moment!
LOOKING FOR MORE HEALTHY SALAD INSPIRATION?
Try some of the readers’ favourite recipes below:
- Grilled nectarine & lentil salad
- Super easy spring green salad
- Green kale salad with spicy roasted chickpeas
- Easy Moroccan inspired salad
- Vegan potato salad (no mayo)
As always, if you recreate this flavour-punching watermelon salad, I’d be delighted to read your comments and hear your feedback. Be sure to drop a comment here on the blog, tag me in your photos on Instagram @Fit Foodie Nutter, Facebook or Pinterest so I don’t miss them.
See you next week.
Healthfully yours,
Tania x
FRESH AND ZINGY WATERMELON SALAD WITH VEGAN PARMESAN (V, GF)
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 4 cups watermelon diced (pips removed)
- 2 cups strawberries diced
- A bunch of fresh basil leaves finely chopped
For the dressing:
- Juice of 2 limes
- 3-5 tsp maple syrup
- 3 tsp olive oil
For vegan ‘Parmesan’:
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- A pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Combine watermelon, strawberries and basil in a salad bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- To prepare the dressing, whisk lime juice, maple syrup and olive oil until well combined. You might have to taste the dressing at this stage and add more maple syrup if required.
- Combine cashews, nutritional yeast flakes, sea salt flakes & pepper in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture has turned into fine crumbs.
- Pour the dressing over the salad & mix well. Sprinkle with ‘Parmesan’ and more fresh basil if desired.
This sounds like such an explosion of flavors in your mouth! Seriously, YUM! Definitely giving this a try!
Thank you so much Beth! It really is a great combination of flavours, if I may say so myself:) Have a great weekend!
What can I say, this looks AWESOME!!! I’m so into the salads at the moment, and you’ve combined two of my favourite summer fruits into this beautiful and fresh looking salad! Wish I could just grab some through the screen, right now!
Thank you so much my lovely! I’m secretly hoping for some rain Anna – this heat is unbearable now. Looking forward to catching up with you next week my dear. Have a great weekend! xxx
My gym serves a variety of fruit infused waters & my favorite just so happens to be watermelon & strawberry. Such a tasty combo. The parmesan cheese is such an interesting add to this salad.
Hi Lynn. What a great idea about watermelon & strawberry flavoured water! I must make it immediately – it would be perfect for this heat. Salty parmesan is a great addition of an extra flavour, hope you’ll like it too x
This looks so refreshing. I love watermelon in salad, it is made for it. Especially in the summer!
I totally agree with you Kacie. Every summer salad should have watermelon in it:). Have a great day and thank you for popping in to my blog.
Sweet Melons, sweet strawberries and “a salty vegan cheese creation” + pepper, what a fascinating combo, Tania. Will give it a try once we’ve had enough of “plain water melon snacks”. I can imagine this salad to be an eye catcher on every summer party buffet.
Hi Gabi. You’re totally right – this salad is a great eye catcher at a summer party buffet! I hope you get to try it soon:). Have a great day x
OMG Tania this must taste delish . 🙂
Thank you Jasmin, it was really delicious:)