I think my main issue is that the spectrum goes from entire melon -> salad -> slush? -> beverage with decreasing side length of the cut pieces. So both the f

I think my main issue is that the spectrum goes from entire melon -> salad -> slush? -> beverage with decreasing side length of the cut pieces. So both the fixed structure from your definition (" Salads are dishes without a fixed structure") and solid/liquid definition don't feel really tangible to me. YMMV