Belated Watermelon and Tomato Gazpacho

A couple of weeks ago, it was too hot to cook. I hit up my local produce market (Yakima Fruit Stand on 522. . . you all should go there!) for provisions.

I bought a cucumber, a watermelon, a chili pepper, a red bell pepper, some garlic, a couple of shallots, some parsley, some basil, and a few scallions.

Before you start in on the gazpacho, you should pickle your shallots. Peel one of the shallots and slice thinly. You can divide it into rings now or later. Cover with cider vinegar and agave nectar. Add some salt and dill if you’d like. You can leave it at room temperature for now, or pop it in the fridge.

After testing the watermelon to make sure it was okay (it was), I did my prep. Quarter four tomatoes, reserving one for garnish. Peel half of the cucumber and cut it into chunks. Cut a thick slice of watermelon, remove the rind and any black seeds, and cut it into chunks. Remove the roots, outer papery layer, and green part of four scallions, then cut into 2-inch lengths. Remove the root, tip, and papery layer from one small shallot. Take the skin and end off two cloves of garlic. Cut both peppers in half and remove the seeds, membrane, and stem. 

Reserve two halves for later (pop ‘em in the fridge with the extra tomato, cucumber, etc). Put it all into the blender until it’s mostly smooth, season with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil, then whir again. It should taste refreshing: a little tart, a little sweet, and with a bit of heat. Put it into the fridge.

Now it’s time for the pretty garnish. Cut a few slices of cucumber, leaving the peel on. You’ll want about 2 T. of finely diced cucumber. Dice up some of the bell pepper and chili pepper as well. (You’ll probably want about a teaspoon of the bell pepper and half a teaspoon of the chili.) Mince up a bit of parsley as well. Toss that all together.

Cut a thin slice of tomato and julienne two basil leaves.

Get your shallot pickles out of the fridge. 

Put a tomato slice in the bottom of the bowl and top with a  few of the pickled shallot rings.

Top with a scoop of the cucumber mixture, then arrange some basil on top. Gently pour in the soup around the edges.

(Obviously, if you don’t need it to be pretty, you can just cut the garnishes into chunks and stir into the soup.)