Our supper club theme this month was colors. We each got assigned a color and had to bring a food to match it. My assigned color was pink/red, so I had to make a pink or red appetizer.
At first, I was uninspired.
Then I saw the big ole’ watermelon I had just bought staring at me on the counter.
Being one of those people who gets a cheap thrill using up stuff in my fridge (thanks, Mom) I was suddenly inspired to slice that big boy up.
But what to make with watermelon that could pass muster as an appetizer? Thinking this thought out loud, I heard “watermelon gazpacho” coming from the other room. Hany had just been raving about a wahoo ceviche with watermelon salsa he had in Miami last week. Brilliant! Okay, now I was getting excited about watermelon gazpacho! Not because I love it…I actually had never had it before. I was thinking more about being able to make it without leaving the house! I had the most important ingredient on hand…the watermelon. Did I have cucumber? Check. Fresh herbs? Check. Red pepper? Of course. The only ingredients I didn’t have were the jalapeno pepper and shallot. Dang it. But still, not bad for a Thursday night fridge clean out.
I know the picture here is not my best, but this soup got scarfed down long before I could get creative with my food styling — and my supper club gals have little patience for my picture taking antics. However, I did manage to pull off this pic from my cell phone! Follow me on Instagram at food.confidence.dietitian if you want to see more supperclub fun!
This soup is deliciously flavorful, so refreshing, and has the perfect sweet to tangy balance. If you think you don’t like watermelon gazpacho, you’re wrong. You do. You really do. And so will everyone else.
Why not give it a try this weekend and find out? Here’s the recipe.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 8 cups finely diced seedless watermelon
- 1 medium English cucumber peeled, seeded and finely diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper finely diced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 Tablespoons red wine or apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons minced shallot
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
Instructions
- Finely dice veggies and watermelon and mix with jalapeno, basil, cilantro, vinegar, shallot, oil and salt in a large bowl. In batches, puree about 6 cups of the mixture into a blender until smooth. Transfer soup to a large bowl. Serve in bowls or cups and top each with 1/4 cup or so of remaining diced mixture. Serve chilled.
