Vinegar Salt Watermelon and Cucumber Salad with Quick Pickled Onion

Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 20 min | Cook: 0 min | Total: 20 min | Serves: 6 | Dietary: Gluten-Free, Vegan

Salt on watermelon is an old trick. Chicken salt on watermelon is the one nobody sees coming, and Chooki's Vinegar Chicken Salt is the flavour that makes it work, because the tang cuts through the sweetness the same way a squeeze of lime does. Cucumber keeps it crunchy. The pickled onion stops the whole bowl tasting like dessert.

Step 1: Pickle the onion

Put the onion in a small bowl with the vinegar, the sugar and a pinch of the chicken salt. Scrunch it with your fingers for a few seconds, then leave it alone while you do everything else. Ten minutes is all it takes to go soft and bright pink.

Step 2: Chop and drain

Cut the watermelon into rough 3cm chunks and slice the cucumber about a centimetre thick so it stays crunchy under all that juice. Tip both into a colander over the sink for five minutes. Watermelon holds a surprising amount of water, and draining it now is the difference between a salad and a puddle.

Step 3: Toss and season

Pile the watermelon and cucumber into a wide shallow bowl. Lift the onion out of its pickling liquid, scatter it over the top, then spoon about a tablespoon of that liquid back in. Drizzle the olive oil, sprinkle the rest of the Vinegar Chicken Salt from a decent height so it lands evenly, and finish with the torn mint. Toss once, gently, and serve.

Tip: Season it at the table, not on the bench. Salt pulls water out of watermelon fast, so a bowl that sat around for half an hour goes from crisp to soupy.