Cucumber Melon Gazpacho

This gazpacho is light, velvety, tasty and cool. It’s the perfect mid-day meal during the heatwaves that many of us are experiencing these days.

I recommend adding some roasted garlic cloves. Roasted garlic lends a smokey yet milder taste than raw garlic and it blends well with this soup. In this recipe, I added 5 roasted garlic cloves and the taste wasn’t too strong.

Making roasted garlic is a no-brainer. The instructions for roasted garlic follow the Cucumber Melon Gazpacho recipe below.

Stay cool!

Cucumber Melon Gazpacho

Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

300-320 gr. cucumber with peel (preferably bio) , sliced lengthwise and diced (2 cups) *see note
300 gr. green melon such as Honeydew (Melon Miel Vert) or Piel De Sapo, seeds scooped out and flesh diced (2 cups)
200-220 gr. green zucchini with peel (preferably bio), sliced lengthwise and diced (1 1/2 cups)
Half of one medium-size avocado, flesh scooped out (about 75 gr)
1 small green jalapeño or chilli pepper, seeds removed and diced
5 or more roasted garlic cloves *recipe below (can sub. with 1-2 raw cloves smashed with back of large knife or 1/8 -1/4 tsp garlic powder.)
1 cup plant milk, no sugar added ( I used this kind )
1 1/2 cups filtered water
1/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
Fresh mint & coriander (or parsley) leaves, a small bouquet of each
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
Option: 1/2-1 teaspoon liquid honey

*Note: If your cucumber has large seeds, slice it lengthwise and scoop out the seeds by sliding the tip of a sharp spoon along the flesh. You may need to add extra cucumber to make up for the 300 gr. or 2 cups. Proceed to dicing. If seeds are small, you don’t need to to do this.

GARNISH OPTIONS

Roasted nuts and/or seeds
Fresh herbs: chives, coriander, mint, parsley
Grilled shrimp
Lime zest
Micro greens
Dry red pepper flakes
Toasted croutons
Thin drizzle of Olive oil or cream of choice

PROCEDURE

If adding roasted garlic, which I recommend, roast it first (recipe is below). Making it is simple but the result is a garlic paste that is subtle and smokey.

Prepare, chop and measure all ingredients listed above. Transfer everything into a deep bowl that isn’t too wide. Mix with a big spoon, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight, tossing ingredients a few times.

Transfer marinated ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until creamy.

Serve chilled. It has to be chilled!

Pour into deep bowls and garnish as desired. Adjust salt and pepper to individual portions. Store leftover gazpacho in a sealed container in fridge.

Roasted garlic

Fan oven: 200°C/400°F Conventional oven: 220°C/ 425°F

With a sharp knife, slice off the edge of each garlic head that is opposite the stem. Slice off a thin layer, about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) thick to expose each individual garlic bud. Peel off the papery outer layer of the heads but leave the skin of each garlic bud intact. Brisk downward strokes with fingers can easily remove the thin papery outer layer.

Place garlic heads on a baking dish with the cut sides facing up. Drizzle tops with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Wrap each head tightly with a layer of parchment covered with a layer of aluminium foil (I do this to avoid wrapping foods directly with foil when cooking on high heat).

Place garlic heads on the middle rack in pre-heated oven and roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, unwrap and allow heads to cool before handling.

Squeeze the bottom of each garlic head and the buds will easily slide out of their skins and casings. The buds will be soft and creamy and with a butter knife, they spread like a paste.