Watermelon + cucumber salad with chili + charred shallot dressing

This restaurant is so on my bucket list!. I have cooked quite a few recipes from this book and they have always turned out extremely well.

This salad is one of my favorites. It has sweet from watermelon, spice from chilies, and tartness from limes. they all come together beautifully.

For more recipes from this book click here.

1 teaspoons olive oil 1 Arbol chili (any Mexican grocery store, or in the Mexican chili section of a regular store) 2 shallots unpeeled 1/4 cup turabindo brown sugar 1/4 cup lime juice Salt to taste 1/2-1 small watermelon, cubed into bite sized pieces, without skin 1 English cucumber, large, sliced into thin discs. Small handful cilantro, finely diced Baby greens of any kind, I like sweet mixed lettuce for this recipe Place olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add chili and fry for 1 minute, remove. Add shallot with skin and cook on high till charred and burnt, don't be shy let it burn. Add 1/2 cup water and boil for 5 minutes till shallot is soft and cooked through. Cool the shallots and water. Peel shallot and set aside. Strain the water and set aside. Add the chili, shallot, lime juice, salt and sugar in a small blender with a bit of the strained water used to boil the shallots. Blend into a thick liquid. Taste and adjust seasonings, it should be sweet, sour and spicy. On a bed of the lettuce arrange the watermelon and cucumbers decoratively. Sprinkle the cilantro on top. Drizzle the dressing on top, just a bit. Serve with the dressing on the side for folks to add more as desired. Sprinkle with large grain salt. Enjoy.