Watermelon Salad with Mint

Late August and the farmers market is at its peak — a riot of color and abundance that makes me want to buy everything. Tomatoes in every shade from yellow to purple. Peaches that smell like perfume. Corn stacked in neat rows, silk trailing. I walked through the stalls with Miya in the carrier and filled my bag until it was too heavy and then bought one more thing, because discipline is for seasons that are not late August.

I made a peach and shiso salad that was, I think, the most beautiful thing I have ever cooked. Sliced white peaches, torn shiso leaves, a little lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, flaky salt. The colors — pale gold peaches against dark green shiso — looked like something from a ceramics exhibition. I ate it slowly, paying attention to each bite, the way my yoga practice teaches me to pay attention to each breath. Presence in the kitchen is presence on the mat. Same practice, different posture.

Brian went to a craft beer conference in Seattle this weekend. Three days. I was alone with Miya, which sounds daunting but was actually peaceful in a way that surprised me. Without Brian, the apartment belongs to me and Miya and the cat and the silence. I cooked what I wanted — Japanese food, all of it, no compromises for Brian's preference for "regular food," which is his term for anything that is not Japanese. I made miso soup for breakfast, onigiri for lunch, and soba for dinner. I played music — Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach, because Miya likes the cello, or at least she stops crying when she hears it, which I am counting as aesthetic preference.

I should not enjoy my husband's absence this much. I know this. My therapist would say that the relief I feel when Brian travels is information — information about the marriage, about what I need, about the gap between who we are together and who I am alone. I am better alone. This is the information I do not want to have. This is the data that builds the case I do not want to win.

Fumiko sent a package. Inside: a ceramic dish, small and blue, with a note that said "for the baby's rice." No context. No explanation. Just a dish that has traveled from Sacramento to Portland carrying the weight of four generations of women who express love through tableware. I washed it and put rice in it and set it in front of Miya and she grabbed the dish with both hands and looked at me and I thought: the chain holds. It holds.

The peach and shiso salad I described above is the kind of thing I cook when I am cooking only for myself — when no one needs me to compromise, and beauty feels like enough of a reason. This watermelon salad with mint lives in exactly the same spirit: a few perfect ingredients, no heat, no effort beyond paying attention. It belongs to the same late-August logic, the same farmers market overabundance, the same belief that presence in the kitchen is its own kind of practice. Make it slowly. Eat it the same way.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 medium watermelon)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, gently torn
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 large lime)
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional, for richness)

Instructions

Cut the watermelon. Slice the watermelon into 1-inch cubes or thin triangles and arrange in a single layer on a wide, shallow serving platter. Pat gently with a paper towel if very wet — this helps the dressing cling.
Mix the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, and honey if using. Taste and adjust — it should be bright and just barely sweet.
Dress and finish. Drizzle the dressing evenly over the watermelon. Scatter the torn mint leaves across the top. Finish with flaky salt and a light drizzle of olive oil if using.
Serve immediately. This salad is best eaten right away while the mint is vivid and the watermelon is cold. If making ahead, hold the dressing and mint separately and combine just before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Watermelon Salad with Mint — When the Simplest Things Are the Most Beautiful