Gazpacho with Cantaloupe (To Beat the Heat)

What is the best way to deal with a 95-degree day, with an ungodly amount of humidity to boot? Probably not by going to hot yoga in the middle of the day, to practice down-dog in an 100-degree room. Yet, that is what I did yesterday. And then I came home, took a cold shower, and sat in front of a fan and ate a bowl of this soup. After that, I stayed pleasantly cool for hours. Was it that a nice chilled soup pleasantly lowered my core temperature? Or that nothing could possibly seem hot after an hour of warrior poses in an excruciating sauna?

This soup is a lifesaver in a heat wave. Absolutely no heat required! And — in this unblended version — not even the heat of an electronic appliance. Just some chopping, and peeling, and measuring of spices and pouring of juice. Nothing too arduous, and the final result shows off summer produce at its best. Plus, it will last for at least a week in the fridge (trust me, it’s happening). As far as I’m concerned, as long as something is tasty, I don’t mind eating it over and over (and over) again. So why not make up a walloping batch of this and be able to stay out of the kitchen for days?

Where did the cantaloupe come from? Well, I was eating half a cantaloupe for breakfast (another heat-avoidance strategy) immediately before commencing gazpacho production. Bite of cantaloupe, look at gazpacho recipe, bite of cantaloupe, look at gazpacho recipe. An idea was born.

The cantaloupe makes this soup feel all the more refreshing; bright and lively. You can add a little more freshly chopped cantaloupe mid-week, also, to perk the whole thing up after it’s been in the fridge for a while.

There are a lot of ingredients here, but basically no steps (combine, chill). (For a slightly heartier, pureed version, take a gander at Liz’s salmorejo post from the start of summer.)

Gazpacho with Cantaloupe

Serves at least 8

Adapted from the New Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients

-       6 cups tomato juice (just the kind you buy in a jug at the grocery store)

-       4 tomatoes, finely chopped

-       1 onion, finely chopped

-       2-3 cloves garlic, minced

-       1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

-       1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

-       ½ cantaloupe, finely chopped*

-       2 scallions, finely chopped

-       1 lemon, juiced

-       ½ lime, juiced

-       2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

-       1 tsp. chopped tarragon

-       1 tsp. chopped basil

-       ½ tsp. cumin

-       ¼ c. parsley, chopped

-       2 Tbsp. olive oil

-       salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste

* The easiest way to “chop” a cantaloupe is to cut it into quarters, score it, flip it inside out, and then cut it. I found that I needed to make two horizontal cuts in order to make the cubes as small as I wanted them (rather than just slicing all the cantaloupe flesh straight off the rind).

1. Combine all ingredients. (Optional: puree all or some.)
2. Chill until very cold.