Cantaloupe, Tomato and Mint Salad

The title of the post is also the recipe. To wit: Tomato, cut into wedges. Cantaloupe, cut into chunks. Fresh mint, roughly torn. Mix. Let sit. Eat.

The plate is beautiful, and each bite is the quintessence of juiciness. And, as a bonus, one bowlful serves as the salad and dessert courses.

I can't take a lick of credit for this recipe. It was assembled and served to me by a friend--we'll call him Potter--who I've been using as a guinea pig for years now. On semi-random, but fairly regular Sunday nights, Potter comes over to have dinner with us. He brings wine, or toasts and tapenade, or some other tasty nibble. This Sunday, for reasons related to The West Wing's untimely end, Potter had us over for dinner instead. We ate in his balcony while a drum circle thrummed from the oddly formal terraced public park across the street. Twilight settled on us slowly as we consumed a bottle of wine imported from Sicily in a suitcase, salmon on a bed of soba noodles, this marvelous salad, and then strawberries with Nutella. A perfect evening.

The cantaloupe tomato salad is 99 percent inspiration and 1 percent perspiration. Potter's done the hard part for us, so make up a batch as soon as a decent tomato is available.