Watermelon & Feta Bites w/Balsamic Drizzle

The perfect summer bite… watermelon, feta, and fresh mint stacked together with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  Simple, refreshing, and healthy all in one.  🙂

If you’d prefer, you can replace the mint with either fresh basil or arugula leaves.  Both are delicious with watermelon and feta.  So play around… see what you like!

These take less than ten minutes to prepare… assuming you have your glaze ready to go from the beginning.  A balsamic glaze is a very easy thing to make.  Very, I tell you.  Of course if you’d like you can just buy one pre-made one from the store, but if you’d like to give it a whirl, you simply heat balsamic vinegar in a small pot and let cook down until it’s thickened and reduced.  That’s it.  Simple eh?!  (For more info on making homemade glaze, click HERE.

Once you have the glaze ready to go, it’s just a matter of slicing, cubing, and stacking!  So really you’re just a couple easy steps from nibbling on these yourself! 😉

Makes about 10 little stacks

INGREDIENTS

1/4 whole watermelon

approx. 4 oz feta cheese (solid block, not crumbled)

a small handful fresh mint (use basil or arugula, if preferred)

toothpicks, optional

Balsamic Glaze, optional (read info above about making your own)

I love watermelon.

DIRECTIONS

Cut the watermelon down into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to cube

I find it easiest to slice the whole watermelon into quarters and then cut my quarter in half 🙂

Slice the quarter into about 1 inch thick pieces (or whatever width you’d like your cubes)

Then cut them into squares…

Don’t worry, I don’t let any watermelon get wasted during this process…

I eat all the extras off the rinds while I prep!

Push watermelon aside and begin chopping the feta block

You want it to be a similar shape as the watermelon, just a bit smaller

Then slice the feta cubes into thinner pieces… that way the feta sits perfectly in top of

the watermelon, but is not such a massive chunk that it completely dominates in flavor

Place a feta slice on top of each watermelon cube

Set one little mint leaf on top of the feta (I prefer them upside down… your choice)

If using basil leaves or arugula, do the same 🙂

Then jab a toothpick right in the center of each leaf, using it to hold the entire stack together

There you go… easy!  If you aren’t a fan of balsamic, you can eat them like this,

though I always love a good drizzle of sauce over my finger foods 🙂

If you’ve made your own sauce, allow it to cool slightly before drizzling it on

If you have store-bought, then you’re ready to go!

Lay your watermelon-feta cubes on a platter to serve

Lightly drizzle some balsamic glaze over the top of each cube

That’s it… garnish with a little mint if you’d like and enjoy!!