growing up in louisiana, we ate a lot of watermelon in the summer. i have some really wonderful memories of having a backyard full of family, my dad manning the grill, my cousins and i running back and forth between the pool and the pond, and only stopping long enough to grab a slice of watermelon before running off again. but for all that watermelon eating, i never really thought you could eat it any way but the way my mom served it. which was sliced up and in a bowl. so when a friend came over recently for a cookout with a tray full of watermelon and feta kebobs, it kind of blew my mind. i love watermelon. i love feta. but together? questionable. in the spirit of trying anything once as long as it is not on my "i will not eat that" list, i figured i'd give it a shot, and at the very least i could smile and nod while i was feeding the rest of it to the dog under the table. um. i am pretty sure i ended up eating the entire tray, and i was rather unapologetic about it. poor lincoln did not even get a crumb.

so when i recently found myself craving watermelon again, i made salad with it, and tossed in chopped mint, red onion, crumbled feta, mixed greens, and topped it off with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. hello, heaven? it's lindsey. where have you been all my life?? needless to say, i have been eating watermelon salad for lunch and dinner for the last two days, and since i still haven't made a dent in the watermelon, i think it's safe to say this will be the case for at least a few more days. which is fine with me. had my mom sprung this on me when i was 6 or 7, there's no doubt in my mind i would have turned my nose up and gone back to playing mermaids in the pool with my cousin, but as i've gotten older i've been surprised at how much i love foods that i had previously turned down on the basis that it was a weird color, or a funny shape, or i didn't like the name of it. can one grow out of being a picky eater? considering the fact that my mom probably spent an extra 5 hours a week trying to cater to my particular palette when i was a kid, i should probably not let on that i have expanded my horizons lest she write me out of the family will out of sheer aggravation.

outside of the peach/goat cheese/almond salad that i have already been eating all summer, the watermelon/feta/mint salad might be my new favorite thing. which is a good thing, since i have enough to eat it every day for the next two weeks.