Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho

Watermelons. Juicy, sweet, healthy – there’s so much to love about watermelons. The only downsides are that you can only get them in the summer, and if you don’t have an army of folks to feed, several pounds of the delectable summer treat could go to waste.

When the last few cups of watermelon were looking like they could use some love, Stacey put the call out on Twitter asking folks for a good watermelon gazpacho recipe. Lisa of Dining in DC heeded the call and delivered a link to a tasty recipe by Chef Jose Pizarro.

And then Stacey changed a few ingredients and turned it into the un-recipe. This is part of our dastardly plot to make you cook without recipes! Bwa ha ha ha ha!

So here goes:

Add about 2 or 3 cups of chopped watermelon to a blender. Seed and chop a medium-sized tomato and add that to the blender with a chopped scallion (mainly the white/white-green parts) and blend. Add red wine or apple cider vinegar ¼ teaspoon at a time to taste. Add extra virgin olive oil to the mixture 1 teaspoon at a time. You can also add a few bits of fresh garlic clove if you’re so inclined, but be careful! A teeny bit goes a long way. Once you’re happy with the soup, add salt to taste.

If today’s photo and recipe are not quite enough to get your mouth watering, then consider the fabulous nutritional quality of the watermelon. Fortunately, the National Watermelon Promotion Board provides an excellent nutrition and health summary. For example, did you know that watermelon is the best produce source of lycopene? Hence the pink color. Tomatoes usually get top billing for this carotenoid, because they are also a good source, making today’s recipe an antioxidant heavy hitter.

And if you’ve been wondering about the best way to select a watermelon, apparently it’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Next week, because we love watermelon so, we’ll share another recipe with the healthy summer fruit!