Watermelon Gazpacho

I am a member of Bountiful Baskets. I love those folks to death. For the low, low price of $15 a week, they bestow upon me a plethora of fruits and vegetables to juice, blend and chop. They do, however, occasionally throw in some random food stuff and leave us, their appreciative customers, to fend for ourselves.

This week, it was a watermelon.

Now, I love watermelon. I’m from the Midwest. There’s nothing better than cutting open a juicy watermelon, sprinkling it with salt, and watching the entire thing disappearing into my grateful belly. But this week, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Until I came across a recipe for watermelon gazpacho over at What’s Cooking.

Having spent almost a year in Spain, I know a thing or two about gazpacho. Mainly, that I love it. I ate it almost every day while I was there, and it is one of the things I miss most about the place. I’ve been unsatisfied with the replacements I’ve found thus far here in the states. But watermelon + gazpacho = a must try immediately. And so that’s what I did.

Holy moly, am I glad I did! I changed the original recipe to suit my personal tastes, but it was a cinch to make. I cut the watermelon away from the rind, crushed it a little in my blender, chopped the ingredients, put it in the fridge for a bit, and voila. Done. And quite simply the tastiest gazpacho I’ve had in a very long time. I will be eating this one all summer long.

Watermelon Gazpacho
Makes 6-8 servings

What I put in it:
1 seedless watermelon
1/2 large cucumber, cubed
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pomegranate red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime
Whatever floats your for garnish boat

What I did :

1. Watermelon and jalapeno go in the high speed blender (or you can just chop the jalapeno up and add with the remainder of the ingredients.
2. Mix the watermelon and the remaining ingredients together and let chill. Voila.