What to Eat When it's Too Hot to Think...

     Summer came right on schedule here to the Pacific Northwest which really never happens.  It's blasting its way through the entire West coast actually, with record high temps everywhere.  Summer in my house means reviving the ritual fan dance twice a day.  In the morning, the moment the house is one degree cooler than the outside, we turn the fans in all the windows to face out, and in the evening, as soon as it's cooler outside, we flip em' around.  And we turn on our thoroughly ineffective wall-unit air conditioner in the vain hope that throwing money and electricity at the situation will improve it somewhat. The end result is that by dinnertime there's no way in Jose's Purple Jumpsuit that I am going to prepare anything involving heat inside my house.  And that is where this salad comes in...

     Cold cucumbers and wet, juicy watermelon are just the ticket during the hottest days of Summer.  I top them with an herbed yogurt dressing for a lovely side dish or a nice, cool lunch.

Watermelon Cucumber Salad with Herbed Yogurt Dressing
1/2 small seedless watermelon (about the size of a cantaloupe)
1 cucumber
2 Tbs plain yogurt
1 tsp ea. chopped Mint, Thai basil flours, and Dill
Salt, optional

Peel the cucumber and slice it with a mandolin.  Slice the watermelon as thinly as you can and cut off the peel.  Cut into wedges.  Combine the yogurt, herbs, and optional salt and toss into the cucumbers and melons.  Serve immediately.

Note:

I listed the salt as optional since a little goes a long way in this.  Some people don't like salt on watermelon, so it's up to you!

Review: 

The mint, yogurt, cucumber, and dill are cooling, while the slight licorice flavor of the Thai basil adds a soothing note.  The kids thought it was all weird and wanted the cucumber and melon plain (and separate), but the adults loved it and I suspect I will be making this many more times this year.