I Make This “Hydration Salad” Weekly in the Summertime

It will cool you down when the weather gets hot.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

During the summer months when it gets unbearably hot, I try to hydrate as much as I possibly can. That often means leaning on fresh summer produce to help supplement my water intake. I love watermelon and know that it’s an excellent source of hydration (and is arguably the best summer fruit), but I wanted to create a salad that would kick it up a notch.

The ingredients in this salad are super simple, and the salad itself is so refreshing, especially after a day at the beach or just some time spent outside in the heat. My husband loves scarfing down this salad after working outdoors when his system really needs cooling off. That’s how it became to be known as “hydration salad.”

Any lover of summer fruits will enjoy this easy recipe, and there are plenty of ways to customize it.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

How To Make My 4-Ingredient Hydration Salad

To make four servings, you’ll need: 

• 2 cups watermelon cubes
• 2 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into half moons
• 1 lime

In a medium bowl, combine the watermelon, strawberries, and cucumber. With your palm on top of the lime, roll it back and forth on your countertop a few times to get more juice out of it. Slice the lime in half and squeeze both halves over your salad. Toss the salad with a spoon until evenly coated.

You can serve this salad immediately after tossing, or you can chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving. If you let the salad sit before serving, the fruits will release some of their juices, mixing with the lime juice and making the salad a bit sweeter. 

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Easy Recipe Variations

• Play with your fruit options: I chose watermelon, strawberries, and cucumber to make this salad because they all have high water content, but there are lots of other summer fruits you could swap in and still get the same hydrating benefits. Try switching out the strawberries for pineapple. Pineapple and lime pair incredibly well together, as do pineapple and watermelon. Or, try swapping out the cucumber for something tangy like grapefruit and use its juice in place of the lime juice.
• Sweeten it up: Sometimes I really want this recipe to feel more like a dessert, so I’ll add a little bit of honey. If you like things on the sweeter side, feel free to add about a tablespoon of honey to this recipe and mix it in, or simply drizzle some honey on top of your individual portion.
• Freeze it: If you’re more of a popsicle person in the summer, you can actually turn this recipe into delicious homemade popsicles, too! Just throw the ingredients into a blender and blend until liquefied, pour the liquid into popsicle molds, and freeze for around 6 hours or overnight. You’ll have refreshing popsicles that you can grab anytime you need a little extra hydration. I’d definitely recommend adding honey to the recipe for this frozen variation.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Stay Cool When Temperatures Climb

• Ginger Switchel
• Easy Cucumber Salad
• Gazpacho
• Peach Daiquiri Popsicles
  

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