- Bertinelli’s salad combines watermelon, burrata, pumpkin seeds and fresh basil.
- A lemon-Dijon dressing adds brightness to the sweet and savory summer dish.
- The salad is easy to customize with swaps like feta, mint or grilled protein.
Valerie Bertinelli is no stranger to the spotlight. After decades as an actress and television personality, she’s also built a reputation as a Food Network host, cookbook author and home cook who brings fans into her kitchen through her candid Instagram videos. Her recipes have a relaxed vibe that makes you want to cook.
In her latest video, she puts together what she calls an “out of this world” summer salad. With just a handful of ingredients, the dish captures the ease of peak-season cooking. It’s got juicy watermelon, creamy burrata, a tangy lemon Dijon dressing, crunchy pumpkin seeds and fresh basil snipped straight from the plant. Here’s how she builds it.
She all starts with that summer MVP, watermelon. With diced cubes spread across a plate, the melon forms the base of the salad. Watermelon is more than 90% water, making it an instant hydrator. Bonus: It also has antioxidants like lycopene.
Next, Bertinelli tears into a ball of burrata and sets the soft, creamy cheese in the middle of the melon. The cheese lends a luxurious texture and adds some calcium and protein for a salad with staying power.
For the dressing, she squeezes a lemon, strains the juice to catch seeds, and shakes it up with Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. She measures by eye, tasting along the way until she finds the right balance. Bright and sharp, the dressing pulls together the sweet and savory flavors on the plate.
Then comes a crunchy element: pumpkin seeds. “These need to be toasted,” she says, tossing them into a skillet with a drizzle of oil. She stirs the seeds with a little spatula to keep them from getting burnt. Once the seeds are golden, she salts them generously and scatters them over the salad. Beyond adding nutty flavor, pumpkin seeds provide plant-based protein, magnesium and healthy fats.
Finally, Bertinelli snips fresh basil from her kitchen plant, demonstrating how cutting where there’s regrowth encourages new leaves. She slices the basil into ribbons, sprinkles it over the salad and finishes with another drizzle of dressing.
The beauty of this dish lies in its contrasts. You get juicy melon, creamy cheese, crisp seeds and fragrant herbs. It’s light enough for a starter or side, yet satisfying on its own.
Like all great summer recipes, this one lends itself to using what you have on hand. Fresh mozzarella, goat cheese or feta can stand in for burrata. Sunflower seeds or pistachios work if pumpkin seeds aren’t around. Mint or arugula would bring a different but delicious herbal note. To make it a meal, serve it with grilled chicken, shrimp or fish. Even some crispy chickpeas could add more staying power to this simple salad.
With its bold colors, fresh flavors and nourishing ingredients, Valerie Bertinelli’s salad embodies the kind of easy, seasonal cooking that we’ll all miss once summer’s over.
