It was only recently that I opened my eyes mouth to gazpacho, a chilled, Spanish-style soup. In my mind, soup is supposed to provide warmth and comfort – not cool refreshment. Well, I’ve come around. If you’ve never had gazpacho, this watermelon version might just make you a cold soup convert too. Even though I’m now a fan of cold soup, I haven’t warmed up (heh) to the idea of cold fruit soup. Have you heard of it? It’s a thing. It’s basically pureed fruit served in a bowl. You know what I call that? A smoothie… in a bowl. Okay, back to gazpacho. Some people choose to leave their vegetables coarsely chopped in the soup to give it more of a rustic look. Personally, I prefer a smooth soup, because I think the flavors come together better that way. I also suggest making gazpacho one day in advance. It tastes better once the flavors have had some time to marry in the fridge. A lot of people add cucumber to their gazpacho, but I’m using watermelon rind instead. The rind is the whitish/pink part of the watermelon. The rind is subtly sweet and it’s good for you (check out my watermelon rind curry to read more about the health benefits). Plus, by using the rind you’re reducing waste. In addition to the rind, you’ll also find two cups of sweet watermelon, a small red onion, jalapeno pepper, fresh basil, garlic and a few spices. Together, all of these ingredients make for one sweet and savory, chilled soup. The perfect meal on a hot day. Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!
