Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Watermelon, oh how I love thee

More than ever before, we’ve been eating a lot of watermelon. Watermelon used to intimidate me: how to cut into it? -and- how to eat so much before it gets weird?

Ever since I learned this tip (slice off one end of the melon, stand it upright and then slice off the sides and other end--this makes slicing and dicing the melon a piece of cake) and perhaps more importantly, now that we eat fruit in droves in our home, any watermelon anxiety is long gone. We’ve been using watermelon in salsa, pairing it with feta and mint (delish!) and just this month, I’ve been making watermelon gazpacho.

Gazpacho—practically the only soup that sounds remotely appetizing to me in the summer, is a traditional Spanish cold soup. If you have never tried gazpacho, you really ought to give it a try. Besides being delicious, it is super healthful, easy to make and fast, fast for a week night dinner.

The sweetness of the watermelon blends beautifully with the flavors of fresh peppers, cucumber and herbs. The splash of lime and vinegar give this soup just the hint of acid to make your taste buds ting with flavor.

Watermelon Gazpacho

2 ½ cups cubed watermelon
1 cup peeled cucumber, diced
½ cup yellow, orange or red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh jalapeno (optional)
2 green onions, chopped
½ teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a large bowl or blender, reserving a ¼ cup cucumber and 1-2 teaspoons parsley and cilantro for garnish.

Blend

Keep Blending

Serve in chilled bowls with the remaining cucumber and herbs:

Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.

Peas and love,
SPC

1 comment:

Eternicom said...

hmmmm... nice thing to eat maybe, will try as soon as possible