Last month’s Sweet & Sour Watermelon Chickenmarked my first attempt this year at fulfilling my 2015 new year’s resolution of preparing more meals with watermelon as an ingredient. Overall, I’d say it turned out well, and I’m proud to announce that I’m sticking to my resolution with yet another watermelon-related recipe.
This one is for Watermelon Gazpacho, which, even without the watermelon, is a dish I’ve never prepared. In fact, I had never even eaten gazpacho until two days ago.
For those like me who were blissfully unaware of the joys of this dish, gazpacho is a Spanish/Portuguese raw vegetable soup that’s typically served cold. Because it’s cold, it’s especially popular in the summer months, but you can enjoy it year-round, too.
Traditionally, gazpacho is made with a tomato base, but the recipe outlined below uses watermelon. Does that mean you can swap out the tomato sauce in your pizza with a watermelon sauce? Maybe, but probably not.
If anyone has any ideas for watermelon recipes that you’d like me to try out in next month’s new year’s resolution update, leave a comment!
WATERMELON GAZPACHO
INGREDIENTS
5 cups chopped Seedless Watermelon
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp chopped jalapeno
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 cup finely chopped seedless Watermelon, reserved for garnish
1/2 to 1 cup finely diced avocado, reserved (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Puree the first 10 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Adjust the seasonings as needed. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Stir in the finely chopped watermelon and avocado at serving time.
As you can see from this photo, this dish is heavy on veggies, and that’s a good thing. And, yes, that’s a yellow bell pepper. I accidentally bought one because I read “yellow onion” and “green bell pepper” in the ingredients list and thought I was supposed to buy a yellow bell pepper, too. You can add a yellow pepper if you want, but I didn’t.
This recipe is actually pretty simple to make. Just chop up the watermelon and veggies and toss them in a blender with some of the other ingredients. That’s pretty much it!
Now all that’s left to do is push the “puree” button. My blender doesn’t have a puree button, but I found a few that worked. And yes, I remembered to put the lid on before I pushed the button. That’s a mistake I’ll only make once.
After you blend it, just pop it in the fridge for an hour or two to get nice and cold. When it’s ready to serve, all you need to do is mix in some diced watermelon. As for the taste, I’ll be honest with you and admit that it was good (the cilantro gave it a nice, fresh taste), but it wasn’t really my thing. Regardless, I had fun making my first gazpacho!
For more recipes using watermelon, check out the “Recipes” section
of the National Watermelon Promotion Board website.
UP NEXT: A LOVELY SPRING PRIZE!
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