July? Already?
July is most definitely my favorite month and one of the best months for locavore eating, and here I am just writing my first post of the month.
I must explain my absence.
You see,the garden apartment has become something of a cross between a moving out zone and a construction zone.
Between packing up boxes (including some of my favorite kitchen gadgets, oh no!) and the last minute projects we've decided to take on (painting, re-grouting the bathroom), cooking has become a rather difficult task.
If you're wondering why two people moving out of a small apartment are putting so much effort into improving it, let me explain. We own the garden apartment, and the series of projects began when we realized we would have to rent the apartment out for a few years before selling it (has anyone heard that it is not a seller's market?). So, we decided it was time to get a dishwasher. Yes, that's right. We have never had one- even with all the cooking and baking and culinary projects.
Getting a dishwasher meant losing some cabinet space. So we decided to buy another cabinet to add on to the opposite counter. This meant that our counter was no longer long enough, so we'd need to get new ones. Do you see where this all is going?
Basically, we have almost completely remodeled the garden apartment's kitchen into a beautiful kitchen I would have loved to use the entire time I lived here.
The situation on Sunday was something like this. Garden apartment: full of boxes and extra furniture given to us by a friend who knows we'll need more in the house (we have two dining room tables in our dining room right now, and a large dresser in our living room). Garden apartment kitchen: looking great, but counter tops have just been sealed and cannot be used for 24 hours.
What's a girl to do? I decided it was time to use one of those extra dining room tables to chop some summer produce. I'd make something I could use a portable appliance for (blender), and which did not require the stove or kitchen (with the exception of toasting the pecans).
Earlier this week, I took a field trip to theAmish market in Charlotte Hall, Maryland.
I found a large watermelon with deep green skin. This watermelon was begging me to make it into a cold soup. Yes, begging.
I also happened to have a few other local ingredients around: mint and basil plants growing in my window wells, Greek yogurt from the
Blue Ridge Dairy, and some Virginia pecans I picked up awhile ago from the
Crystal City farmers market.
I would blend together the main ingredients, then top it all off with some extra mint, some diced watermelon, a little red onion, and some toasted Virginia pecans.
John was skeptical about the idea of cold watermelon soup, but was easily won over after one bite. The soup was perfectly refreshing on a warm summer day, with a nice blend of flavors and textures from the garnishes.
Cold Watermelon Soup with yogurt, mint, and toasted pecans
Makes 4 First Course Servings
- 4 cups of watermelon, seeds removed and diced (+ 1/4 cup extra watermelon small diced for garnish)
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon of champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- pinch of salt
- dash of pepper
- 2 tsp mint, diced in a chiffonade (+ extra for garnish)
- 1 tsp basil, diced in a chiffonade
- 1/4 red onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup pecans, chopped into small pieces and toasted
Make the soup:
Combine the 4 cups of watermelon, 1/2 Cup Greek yogurt, lime juice, champagne vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, 2 tsp of the mint, and basil in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Set aside in the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the garnishes. Finely dice 1/4 cup of watermelon. Finely dice 1/4 cup of red onion. Reserve 1-2 teaspoons of the mint chiffonade for garnish.
Heat a small frying pan to medium high. Add the chopped pecans. Toss from time to time until pecans are evenly toasted.
Putting it all together:
Remove the soup from the refrigerator. Spoon into bowls, then top with reserved watermelon, red onion, toasted pecans, and mint.
Enjoy!
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And if you're still in the mood for watermelon, check out my recipe for Watermelon Granita Rum Colladas!
