Recipe of the week: Blackened watermelon salad

“If you’re confused about how to choose the best watermelon, you’re not alone,” said Joe Bonwich in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The best gauges of sweetness are still tricks that grandma might have taught you: Look for “a nice yellow area” on the melon’s belly; when thumped, it should sound like a jug of water.

Blackened watermelon salad

½ cup balsamic vinegar

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4 lbs watermelon (seeded)

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tsp Old Bay or other blackened seasoning mix

6 cups salad greens

¼ cup spiced or sweetened pecans, chopped

2 tbsp crumbled feta

¼ lb sugar snap peas, blanched

Bring balsamic to boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat and cook until reduced to about 2 tbsp. Remove from heat. Cut melon into 12 two-inch squares ¾ of an inch thick. Reserve excess for vinaigrette. Dust one face of squares with seasoning and set aside.

Lightly coat bottom of large sauté pan with oil and heat until very hot. Working in batches, sear melon squares for about 20 seconds, seasoned side down. Remove and cool, seasoned

side up.

Drizzle balsamic reduction in four plates and place melon, blackened side up, on the reduction. In a mixing bowl, toss remaining ingredients with vinaigrette (below); arrange alongside watermelon. Serves 4.

For the vinaigrette

1 cup watermelon

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp honey

kosher or sea salt

fresh black pepper

¾ cup olive oil

Place everything but the oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add oil until emulsified. Adjust seasoning.