Watermelon salad Image by Goba Photography

This unique salad combines fresh watermelon with marinated char grilled peppers, salty cheese and herbs. Chef Erez uses Bulgarian cheese, which is a type of feta commonly paired in Israel with watermelon for a light dessert. Chef Erez suggests a slice of bucheron or fresh goat cheese if you can’t find great quality Bulgarian cheese.

1 lb. cold watermelon, cut into ¾” cubes

6 large romano* red peppers (long red peppers)

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

5 small oil cured anchovy filets, chopped finely

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lemon

1 cup of fresh mint leaves

1 cup of fresh parsley leaves

Fruit, high quality olive oil

6 oz. Bulgarian Feta or 1 large slice of bucheron goat cheese

Finishing Sea salt, such as fleur de sel

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Roast the peppers over an open flame until charred on all sides. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool. Peel, remove seeds and any liquid. Place in bowl and season to taste with salt. Add garlic, anchovy, and the juice of one lemon. Set aside to marinate while preparing the other ingredients.

Gently tear the peppers into long strips. Add them, along with the marinade, to the cold watermelon cubes. Gently fold in the herbs, season with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Finish with cheese and black pepper.

*Romano peppers are a long, sweet red pepper variety. If you cannot find them at your local market, replace with 3 red bell peppers.

__Danielle Rehfeld Colen is the chef and founder of The Inherited Plate. She graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, The George Washington University and has worked in professional NYC kitchens and in private homes for the last 10 years. Danielle has tested recipes at Real Simple, Women’s Day and wrote and developed recipes for her food column ‘What’s Cooking’ in The Riverdale Press for 5 years. Most recently, her work was published in The Boston Globe. She caters, teaches private cooking classes and cooks with professional chefs and home cooks from all over the world to preserve and share their authentic family recipes, stories and special culinary knowledge. She lives in NYC. Follow her on Instagram @daniellerehfeld @theinheritedplate and on Twitter @daniellerehfeld._

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount