Sweet and Spicy Salad

Serves: 4
Easy
Time: 20 minutes + 1 hour pickling

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon salt 
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
500g seedless watermelon
1 ½ cups baby spinach leaves, shredded
1 Lebanese cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 long red chilli, thinly sliced 
2 tablespoons fried shallot
¾ cup coriander leaves

METHOD:

1. Combine the sugar, salt and ½ cup warm water in a glass or ceramic bowl. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved then add the vinegar. Add the onion slices and ensure they are submerged in the liquid. Cover and leave to pickle for at least 1 hour.

2. Cut the watermelon into thin triangles and toss in a bowl with the drained pickled onion, baby spinach, cucumber and chilli. Top with fried shallots and coriander leaves to serve.
   

Gravlax is one of the most rewarding dishes you can make with its beautifully beetroot-stained flesh. The sweet and salty flavour, mixed with the soft salmon and crispy gow gee is a real mouth (and crowd) pleaser! Ask your fishmonger to pin-bone the salmon for you—it's a fiddly job.

Want to be cool and alternative? Well, nothing says 'on trend' more than pickling your own onions! So go on, show off with this beautifully balanced watermelon salad.