The Blueberries, Feta and Mint recipe I love from Mindy Fox’s Salads: Beyond the Bowl is a play on a classic pairing of fruit with feta: watermelon and feta, peaches and feta, cherries and feta, blackberries and feta…

The permutations seem endless when you’re shopping summer farmer’s markets. I swap out the mint for basil, or tiny arugula or thyme flowers…or clusters of purslane…or…no herb at all.  The formula then becomes:

fruit (fresh or grilled) +
feta +
extra virgin olive oil +
sea salt +
coarsely ground pepper +
herbs/greens (maybe)

 

Perfect.

 

 

Formula for Improvising: Fruit with Feta and Maybe an Herb

Serves four

3 cups, about 1 1/2 pints, blueberries, blackberries, cherries (pitted or halved), watermelon (cubed), peaches or  plums (sliced)

1 cup mint (there are many kinds) or basil or baby arugula leaves, large leaves torn; purslane clusters; or a sprinkling of tiny individual thyme flowers or leaves

About 1 cup feta cheese (sheep’s milk if you can find it, or a mix of sheep and goat; French Valbreso is lovely)

4 tablespoons very good extra-virgin olive oil

Flaky coarse sea salt

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, crushed

Divide the fruit among small shallow bowls, then sprinkle with the herbs. Crumble the cheese over the top. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the oil over each serving. Crush several generous pinches of salt over each dish and sprinkle with the pepper.