Watermelon Feta Salad with a Balsamic Fig Crostini

This was an off-the-cuff experiment with my dear friend, and park slope neighbor for the summer, Miss beezy burgess. I started to make a balsamic glaze, originally intended for the watermelon salad.  On whim, I threw in some fresh figs I had just bought at the co-op. To my delight, this turned into a lovely balsamic fig compote. Spread with some goat cheese on a crostini (aka  little piece of bread toasted w. olive oil) this lovely hors d’oeuvre would be best enjoyed with a chilled glass of wine, on a porch, in the summertime [or as it was- on my fire escape – beer in hand.]

Watermelon Feta Salad
big bowl of watermelon- cut into chunks
feta
fresh mint
lime (i subbed w. lemon once- but lime works way better)
splash of balsamic vinegar
sea salt
red chili flakes or maybe a serrano pepper (optional)
Take big bowl of watermelon. Squeeze fresh lime juice over. Sprinkle with some feta.  Chop a couple sprigs of fresh mint add (a little mint goes a long way with flavor.)  Add a splash of balsamic and a grinding of sea salt. Add hot pepper if you like. Mix up. Let sit for a minute for the flavors to combine.

Balsamic Fig Crostini
Fresh figs (dried might work too)
balsamic vinegar
goat cheese
baguette
Take a frying pan, add enough balsamic vinegar to cover bottom of the pan. Bring to boil on high heat [beware this lets off a very strong vinegar scent- keep your oven fan on]. Keep cooking down. After a few minutes, this  will thicken into a glaze. Add a few chopped fresh figs. Continue stirring to cook until thickens slightly more- coming together like a jam. Take off heat.  Preheat oven to broil. Cut baguette into slice 1/2 in thick. Lay on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Broil for about 2 mins- keep an eye- as they go from toasty to burnt fast.  Spread goat cheese on toast. Spread compote.

Tags: crostini, fig, watermelon