Cucumber Cantaloupe Salad
Sven Gustafson
| 2 min read
![cantaloupe](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ruord509/production/1609d4cbb2c31680ca1644fc1f5564b6e2ac18b3-600x300.jpg?w=3840&q=75&fit=clip&auto=format)
The school buses rumbling down your block may signal that summer is over, but the calendar says otherwise. September is still peak harvest season here in Michigan — easily the best time of year if you like fresh and locally grown food. Both of the key ingredients here are in season now.
![20130903_142006](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ruord509/production/3692ea2aac9e48768a1b2151ab4d5e4c89143770-281x375.jpg?w=3840&q=75&fit=clip&auto=format)
This side dish came together partly out of serendipity and partly from my kitchen-sink approach to making salads and slaws. I’ve been making this without the melon for several weeks now as a way to keep pace with all the cucumbers ripening in my backyard garden. Then I saw a container of cubed cantaloupe and decided to combine the two to make space in the fridge.
Voila! The melon adds a sultry sweetness and a bit of color contrast to what is otherwise a perfectly satisfying salad on its own. Together with the cucumbers and onion, the result is a light, cool and refreshing salad that would work well with grilled food, as a side salad for lunch or at a picnic.
Because I rarely make anything the exact same way twice, I’m guesstimating the amounts here and playing loose with the exact ingredients. You could even add a salty cheese, like feta, and I’d bet the results would be pretty wonderful. I like to make a big bowl of this and use it throughout the week.
Photo Credit: A Healthier Michigan and Kabsik Park
For more refreshing salads, check out these posts: