MELON PEPPER SALAD

While I was visiting the country I really wanted to try to only prepare dishes with ingredients that I could get locally. Usually, I do food shopping in NY and cart everything up here. It gets really cumbersome and I always end up running out to the store anyway. The first farmer's market I tried had nothing but plants, but Antidormi's up the road had a lot of nice fresh veggies and some delicious local honey. I imagined how pretty fresh cantaloupe and green peppers look together then began to imagine how would they taste together? I quickly sauteed the peppers in a little olive oil with hot chili flakes for a nice kick, then combined it with fresh raw cantaloupe, chopped parsley, fresh honey, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. The flavors combined really nicely. The crunchy pepper complimented the mellow cantaloupe flavor, and the sweetness of the melon and honey was rounded out well with the lemony parsley. The little bit of heat from the chili flakes and tang of the vinegar brightened up the whole salad. 

MELON PEPPER SALAD

1/2 Cantaloupe shaved with a potato peeler

1/2 green pepper

Hot red pepper flakes to taste

Olive Oil

2 tsp. honey

2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Chopped parsley for garnish

Salt and Pepper

Shave the cantaloupe with a potato peeler and set aside. Slice the pepper and sautee quickly, keeping the crunch, in oil with hot red pepper flakes to taste. Combine the pepper with the cantaloupe. Drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.