Watermelon salad with citrusy crab quesadillas

The meal I made for this week's food co-op consisted of citrusy crab quesadillas, with a watermelon salad, and a raspberry chocolate mousse. I threw in a strip of watermelon fruit leather that I had made last week that worked really well. I'll write up how to make that and post it soon. Similarly the chocolate mousse was one I learned at a chemistry education conference last week! The recipe was invented by a chemist and is so easy. That is a separate post in itself, probably on my blog. I'll link to it when it's done.

The crab quesadillas are from a Bon Appetit magazine. I've been making this recipe every summer for years. If the crab is fresh and I feel like splurging, I'll use crab, otherwise it is fast and tasty just using fake krab too. When I make this recipe, I use sliced grape or cherry tomatoes - I prefer their taste and the recipe isn't too juicy, which happens with larger tomatoes. I used to make these using serranos so they were a bit hotter, but now I make them with no chilies so my kids will eat them too. When they are not in a crab mood, just the cheese mixture on it's own is pretty tasty. I love the citrusy flavour that comes from the orange and lemon juice and zest.

Now in general, I'm totally a recipe-based cook. I own brazillions of recipe books. I pore over them and love coming up with new things to try. Even when its a recipe I make many many times, I still tend to check with what's written down, though I'll start straying a little from what's written now and then. This next recipe is a big departure from my normal comfort zone. I wanted to copy the watermelon salad I had at La Condesa at my birthday dinner earlier this year. It was such a great mixture of tastes and textures - sweet crispy watermelon chunks, sweet crunchy caramelized pepitas, creamy salty goat feta cheese, shredded herbs, and some sort of vinaigrette containing at least agave nectar and hoja santo. I found a video online showing the La Condesa people making a salad that was similar, but not exactly the same. The accompanying text was not entirely clear, but was a good starting point. When I started writing this up I found another link with the same video with an actual recipe written out. Never mind, I read a number of other similar recipes too, and then came up with my own version. I hope I can remember what I did, because I'll want to make it again. It was delicious. This making up my own recipe thing is a big deal for me. I hardly ever do it, but like many other things lately, I think I'm changing!

Watermelon salad
Serves about 8

arugula (I prefer baby arugula to grown up arugula)
1 small seedless watermelon, rind removed, chopped into chunks.
1 wedge ricotta salata (or goat cheese feta), diced small

3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar

Melt butter in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium. Add sugar and a good pinch of kosher salt and stir to blend. Add seeds and stir to coat. Cook for a while till seeds pop. (When I made this, I toasted the seeds first till they popped, then added the butter and sugar. This was a bad move because I couldn't cook them long enough to fully melt the sugar before the seeds started to overcook.)

Scatter the arugula, place watermelon pieces on top. Sprinkle some cheese and caramelized pumpkin seeds on top. Add dressing.

(Keep the components separate if you are not going to eat it all at once. In particular, the pumpkin seeds will lose their crunch. Still taste good, but not the same effect.)

Dressing
Makes about 1.5 cups

1 Tbsp fresh mint, shredded
1 Tbsp fresh basil, shredded
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, shredded
1 tsp fresh epazote, shredded
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 lime, juice and zest
2 Tbsp agave nectar
3/4 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. With machine running, gradually add the oil until well incorporated. Season if needed.