Summer, season of ripeness, maturation, spoiling, juice, overflow, heat. Almost gone. Summer, for me, has been a time of action, galvanizing, considering what’s most important and figuring out how I get from where I am now to there. Since 2016, and probably long before that November, even without realizing it, I spent a lot of time feeling relatively powerless. Unsure of how anything I might do could make a difference. For a while, I continued to write about the sociopolitical devastation I saw all around, but eventually I defaulted to writing about the things that were familiar, mundane, slowly ripening, or perhaps already past ripe.
In the past year, I also traveled a lot. I talked with people all over the Western Hemisphere about the survival of the human spirit. A midnight summer solstice in Alaska. Gathering roses to distill on Vancouver Island. Discussing the rise of populist politics with a Moroccan in Paris. Walking in Keats’s garden in London. Being told by an unspeakably kind Iranian Canadian cabbie to “try to forget about T—” while I was in their country.
Try to forget. I couldn’t.
What we really care about isn’t so easily forgotten, or pushed aside. I was tired of sidelining what felt most urgent, and from that place, this summer, #honestinsta was born. The tide of people who felt similarly trapped behind the guise of social media’s veneer was stunning. We all wanted to be more honest. We all wanted to feel a little more free. In the weeks that followed, we talked about everything from body image to white fragility to the male gaze.
If you’re a regular reader of Kale & Caramel, it won’t be news to you that, of late, the site has featured less recipes for food, and more explorations of wellness and self-care, travel and storytelling. These elements of K&C have always been present, but I’m bringing them to the fore now. Recipes (hundreds of them) will always be there—including this one, for a slammin’, super easy melon salad.
But more urgently is the ripening of other parts of K&C. New stories. New ways to care for yourself. New ways to eat.
In the midst—or perhaps out—of so much political turmoil, the wellness industry has exploded. And while you know I’m the first person to reach for spirulina, nutritional yeast, and a jade egg, these are also down-home hippie lifestyle accoutrements that I grew up with. They weren’t part of someone’s business plan. And while my whiteness and privilege were without a doubt factors in their availability to me, these items weren’t solely targeting a select socioeconomic elite.
So now, more than ever, it feels important to share with you the easy, affordable, and supremely accessible elements of wellness and wellbeing that have been a part of my life since I was a child.
I will always, inescapably, have to write about the issues that move me the most. This site will always be a space for storytelling and living well, as a community. Thank you for being here. Let’s eat some melon about it.
This recipe was inspired by a delish Bon Appetit cantaloupe and cucumber salad, but is streamlined and flavor-swapped for optimal simplicity. Use any kind of melon you like, a chile, tons of lime juice and flaky sea salt. Finish it with feta, fresh mint, and toasted black sesame.
It’s the perfect thing to do with all those end-of-summer melons you’ve been eyeing at the market.
EASIEST END-OF-SUMMER MELON SALAD.
Ingredients
- 1 medium melon, or a mix of various kinds of melon
- 1/2 fresno chile, seeds removed, thinly sliced or other small-medium and mild-medium chile pepper
- 1 juicy lime
- flaky sea salt to taste
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds or other seeds of choice
Instructions
- Cut melon in half lengthwise, and scoop out seeds. Slice into 1/4-inch crescents and trim off the skin. Arrange melon on a serving plate, overlapping one or two layers.
- Sprinkle chile slices on top of fruit—taste the chile to ensure you don't add too much heat.
- Squeeze lime juice over the fruit, and sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
- Top with crumbled feta or goat cheese, fresh mint, and toasted black sesame seeds. Enjoy!
