Week 21: Watermelon Gazpacho

Oppps... It's been quite a while since I've blogged. Funny thing is, I have been making soup, just haven't found the time to write about it. There have been some really good ones, so it's about time I share.

Whats great about summertime soups is that they are cold and refreshing. They are also very easy and quick to make, except for the chill time which takes some advanced planning, but worth the time. Most weeks I've made the soup in the evenings anyway, to be eaten the next day.

The soup I couldn't wait to make once it was time for the summer recipes is the Watermelon Gazpacho. It sounded so light and delicious and also gave me a chance to grill!

The first step was to cut and drain the watermelon. After cubing the watermelon, I let it drain in a colander to remove excess liquid. ---If I make this again (which I might), I would be sure to set aside a few larger cubes for the garnish. --- I then blended the watermelon and bread crumbs together in a food processor in 3 separate batches, careful not to blend too much so that there was some texture to the soup. Once all the watermelon was blended, I combined the mixtures and stirred in the lime juice, salt and red pepper flakes. I then covered the soup and placed it in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours or until slushy. I tasted it again when I was ready to serve and added extra lime juice and salt.

The garnish was super fun to make! I heated the grill, skewered the remaining watermelon cubes and brushed them with olive oil. (Remember to soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes before placing them on the grill.) My cubes were a little small and started to fall off the skewers while they were warming up, so I will definitely cut them larger next time. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get grill marks on the melon. I may have not had the grill hot enough or I didn't leave them on long enough because they were starting to fall off the skewers, but they were still yummy. Once grilled, I re-skewered the melon between mint leaves and added to the bowls of watermelon gazpacho.

The gazpacho was yummy and refreshing. It was a great starter to the first bbq meal of the summer, and the family ate it all up! I will definitely try this again, maybe adding mint to the gazpacho or maybe basil would be yummy too... so many options.



Ingredients
6 cups cubed watermelon, plus extra for skewers (About 5 lb watermelon) / $6.99 /Safeway
3/4 cup bread crumbs / from home
2 1/4 teaspoon fresh lime juice, more if needed / from home
salt / from home
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes / from home
Olive oil / from home
6 fresh mint leaves / $1 / Real Produce

Also needed
skewers

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes, 1 1/2 hour freezing time
Servings: 8
Taste: 4 stars
Prep: super easy
Cost: $7.99