Watermelon Gazpacho
By Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN; Reboot Nutritionist
Celebrate summer with this cooling soup. Chilled soups are a refreshing, light and satisfying meal or side to your favorite summer dish. And this Watermelon Gazpacho is also 100% Reboot friendly, meaning you can use it as a meal if you’re currently doing a juice-plus-eating 10-day or 15-day Reboot plan.
Watermelon isn’t just refreshing. It’s also an excellent source of electrolytes like potassium. Potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, as part of a healthy, plant-based diet, can promote heart health and lower blood pressure. Watermelon also provides magnesium, an electrolyte that plays a role in metabolism and bone health.
And just the watermelon in this recipe provides over 80% of your daily vitamin C needs–go antioxidants! Other notable nutrients include calcium and phosphorus for electrolytes and bone health; there’s folate for healthy blood and heart health, plus you’ll enjoy fiber and protein in this chilled soup.
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped watermelon flesh
- 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
- 1 small red onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 cucumber
- 1 Serrano chili pepper
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- Lime juice from ½ lime
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ avocado, diced
- 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
Directions
1. Wash all produce well, including watermelon and lime.
2. Prep the produce: Cut the watermelon in half and save the rind for later juicing. Chop the red pepper, removing the stem and seeds (discard or save for making a spicy juice). Crush the garlic with knife and discard papery peel. Chop the watermelon flesh into about 1/2-inch cubes. Dice the onion, cucumber, scallions, serrano pepper and tomato.
3. Add half of chopped melon, half of the onion, half of the cucumber, half of the scallions, half of the red pepper, and half of the tomato to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add all of the Serrano pepper, garlic and olive oil.
4. Pulse until smooth.
5. Pour the puree into a large bowl, and add the remaining half of the watermelon chunks, onion, cucumber, scallions, red pepper and tomato. Stir in the sea salt and black pepper to taste. Add the lime juice. Gently add in red wine vinegar, slowly, tasting as you go. The goal is to balance out the sweetness of the watermelon and tomato without making your gazpacho too acidic in flavor.
6. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with remaining scallions, diced avocado and mint leaves.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Substitutions
Tomato – any variety of tomato including heirloom
Red onion – white onion
Scallion – cilantro
Mint – basil
Red bell pepper – green bell pepper or yellow pepper
Serrano chili pepper – jalapeño, habanero or other hot pepper