Watermelon is always the answer for a hot day, and this recipe from chef Michael Mina’s new cookbook, “My Egpyt” (Voracious, $40), provides his twist on the classic watermelon and feta salad.

While Mina grew up in Washington state, he was born in Egypt and raised on his mom’s Egyptian cooking. He recently took a series of seven trips to Egypt with friends who are Egyptian chefs. The results come together in his new cookbook, which was released on Oct. 8.

The award-winning chef recently sat down with us to share some recipes, his five favorite Middle Eastern restaurants in the Bay Area and to discuss the past that led to this cookbook’s creation. Among those recipes: a feta-brined chicken, his mom’s classic koshari and this one for his twist on a watermelon and halloumi salad.

Mina said this salad is all about “seasonality and product.”

Michael Mina’s new cookbook, “My Egypt,” celebrates the flavors of his heritage. (Voracious 2024)

“Watermelon and feta salads are classics in Greece,” he writes in the book, “and this salad borrows from Egypt’s Mediterranean neighbors to the north, spiked with a little Urfa pepper for heat. The key in this salad is ensuring that each bite has a little of everything, so cut the halloumi and watermelon into bite-sized pieces. If you have a FoodSaver or other vacuum sealer, consider compressing the watermelon pieces in a bag with the juice and zest from an additional lime for a more intense flavor and texture. You can mix the halloumi with the oil and lime juice while prepping the rest of the ingredients.”

Watermelon and Halloumi Salad

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lime

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more if desired

3 to 4 ounces (85 to 113g) halloumi, cut into bite-sized (¾-inch) pieces

2 cups watermelon, cut into bite-sized pieces (about ¼ of a mini seedless watermelon)

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds

3 small red radishes, tops and ends trimmed, and sliced paper-thin

A few small purple basil or mint leaves, torn if larger than the pieces of watermelon

¼ cup toasted pistachios, coarsely chopped

Pinches of Urfa or Aleppo pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a salad bowl, mix together the oil, lime juice and zest and salt. Add the halloumi and mix to coat in the vinaigrette. (You can do this while prepping the other ingredients.)

Add the watermelon, celery, cucumber, radishes and basil and taste, adding more salt if desired. Sprinkle the pistachios on top and garnish with a few pinches of Urfa pepper.

— Courtesy “My Egypt: Cooking from My Roots,” by Michael Mina (Voracious, $40)