Melons are a staple of summer, but you can add a bit of heat with some spice to compliment the cool melon. At top is cured watermelon crudo with thyme, Vietnamese shrimp with green melon is bottom and at right is green melon with cubanelle peppers and ricotta.

There are few things more summer than an icy wedge of watermelon.

Until you grow up, that is, and your palate expands to appreciate the yin-yang, savory tang of mixing the sweetness of a perfectly ripe melon with something salty, spicy or just plain mind-blowing.

That's the appeal behind that Italian classic, prosciutto-wrapped melon, and the feta-watermelon salad that was so trendy a few years back.

But they're not the only game in town.

Angelo Sosa, the two-time “Top Chef” competitor and author of the new “Flavor Exposed,” says the key is blending flavor trios. So when he works with melon, he adds spicy and salty components to the sweetness of the fruit.

His cured watermelon crudo with Thyme is an appetizer or palate cleanser that looks “pristine, almost like tuna sashimi,” but with flavors blending into a harmonious sweet, salty and herbaceous whole.

It works as an appetizer or a light finish to a sultry summer meal.

“I would even add a little rum or vodka to make it a perfect cocktail,” Sosa said.

Mindy Fox, the food editor of La Cucina Italiana magazine, likes to play with those sweet and salty flavor combinations, too, but the visual appeal is just as important.

Fox brings an artistic sensibility to the table, especially when it comes to the dishes in her new cookbook, “Salads: Beyond the Bowl.”

“The classic melon and prosciutto and the one that everyone started doing a few years ago-watermelon and feta,” she says, “we're still playing to that same idea, the sweet melon and the salty. That's the base of all these salads.”

Fox adds spicy chilies to her version of the watermelon-feta classic.

“It's the monochromatic color palette,” she says. “I was so excited about the beauty of the different greens. Green melon is such a gorgeous color, and cubanelle peppers or banana peppers can be slightly darker or lighter. It's such a beautiful palette,”

You'll find that salty presence in dishes-such as the Vietnamese shrimp salad, from Sunset's new “Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook”- that use fish sauce as a flavoring ingredient, too. It provides the yin, the yang and the surprise.

And that, both Fox and Sosa say, is key. A simple wedge of melon is lovely, but adding chilies, salt and savory components takes it to new heights.

“It's exciting on your palate,” Fox says, “and light and cool and crisp.”

4-pound piece seedless watermelon1 cup crumbled feta cheese1/2 cup cilantro leaves1/3 cup mint leaves, torn into small pieces1 fresh Scotch bonnet or similar hot chili, seeded and very thinly slicedGround Aleppo pepper or piment d'EspeletteFlaky coarse sea salt1/3 cup roasted pepitas1/4 cup very good extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling1 limePeel the watermelon. Cut the fruit into small pieces, about 1/4-inch wide.In a large shallow serving bowl, layer half the melon, sprinkle with half the feta and half the cilantro, mint and fresh chili. Season with a generous sprinkle of Aleppo pepper and crush several generous pinches of salt over the top. Sprinkle with half the pepitas, half the oil and half the lime juice. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Drizzle with a little extra oil, if desired.Mindy Fox, “Salads: Beyond the Bowl”

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined1 1/2 cups each loosely packed basil, mint and cilantro1/4 cup slivered red onion1/2 serrano chili, thinly sliced3 cups honeydew or Galia melon wedges3 tablespoons fresh lime juice1 tablespoon sugar2 tablespoons Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam)1/2 cup roasted, salted cashewsBring a medium pot of water to a boil Add shrimp and cook just until they turn opaque and curl up, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.Toss shrimp, herbs, onion, chili and lemon together in a large bowl. Mix together the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce, then pour over salad.Toss salad gently, then top with cashews.“Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook”

2 cups watermelon, cut in pristine 1-inch cubes2 teaspoons kosher salt1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves3 tablespoons olive oil1/4 freshly ground black pepperPut the watermelon on a sheet pan and sprinkle it with the salt. Place it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.Remove the watermelon from the fridge, add the thyme, olive oil and pepper and toss very gently to combine. Serve immediately.Angelo Sosa, “Flavors Exposed”