honeydew & ham salad

Today is the last day of my Chinese New Year Pork Festival, in honour of the Year of the Pig, where I have blogged:

Sang Choi Bau
Pork Mains Recipe Carousel
Ragu di Salsiccia
Pork Vermicelli Salad
Jamon y Higos (ham & figs)
Maiale al Vino (pork in wine)

My seven day pork recipe marathon comes to a close with Weekend Herb Blogging and this juicy, ham based salad I discovered.

I used to hate ham. I always found it too salty and felt sorry that a poor piggy had to die for this substandard meat.

Then something changed.

Recently my sister bought some leg ham and I greedily ate almost all of it, piled high with spicy whole grain mustard.

This recipe reunites that marvellous pairing, and adds the sweet, succulent flesh of honeydew melon as well as earthy roasted hazelnuts.

I used a tarragon mustard that I bought when visiting the Hunter Valley late last year. It added a herbiness that permeated the salad nicely.

I ate this meal as a light lunch, but it would work in a buffet or as a side with a summer dinner.

Honeydew & Ham Salad
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet Traveller’s “Modern Salads”. Serves 2 as a side.
Ingredients:
¼ honeydew melon
250g leg ham, coarsely torn
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
40g hazelnuts, roasted and halved
Method:
1. Peel, seed and chop the honeydew melon into 1cm chunks.
2. Whisk the olive oil, mustard, vinegar and honey together to form a dressing.
3. Combine ingredients in a bowl, toss then serve.

Honeydew melons should have waxy, creamy white to yellow skins and feel slightly heavy for their size. Unlike other melons, they ripen after purchase.

They are part of the cultivar group of muskmelons, Cucumis melo Inodorus group, and are grown in semiarid climates.

Weekend Herb Blogging is being hosted by Anna from Anna’s Cool Finds. Have a sticky beak to see what else is cooking.

~~~

Well that's the end of the pork recipes for a while. I've definately gained an appreciation of pork over this period, but posting something every day has been tough - especially with all my work commitments and the impending wedding.

Tonight is my hen's night. This time next weekend, I'll be floating down the aisle . . . . . wish me luck!

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb salad side honeydew melonham wholegrain mustard chinese new year pork festival chinese new year year of the pig