For the next few hours, the vision of a watermelon gazpacho danced in my head. I could see pretty colors, and taste refreshing combinations of tomato, melon and cucumber. The weather was a crisp 99 degrees F. and as I was putting my farmer’s market bounty away, I realized I a cut up watermelon staring at me, a half cucumber and of  some summer tomatoes.

As if genies gathered in my kitchen, a watermelon gazpacho was poured into a bowl, and I was happy.

This is gazpacho blended a bit more smoothly, although I still prefer it chunkier.

The first thing I did was research watermelon gazpacho. I have a good tomato gazpacho here, but adding watermelon is another story.

When I returned home, I had that watermelon gazpacho on my mind. What are the chances of me just happening to have al the ingredients on hand? Don’t you love when things like that happen?

Easy Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho Depends on the Freshest Ingredients

This recipe for watermelon gazpacho is straight away simple, as long as you have the freshest, sweetest ingredients. This is a soup that requires farmer’s market tomatoes and sweet, ripe watermelon. Go gently on the cucumber, which has a penchant to dominate a dish.

When you add in your peppers, go with what makes you happy. I’m not a fan of raw, green bell pepper, as red bell pepper is sweeter. I also used a serrano.

I was gentle with the vinegar, but keep in mind that the vinegar taste will subside.

Sit back and relax, cool off with this delicious soup.

This is not the first time Spinach Tiger did something unique with watermelon. Check out these recipes.

Grilled Watermelon with Scallops

Grilled Blackberry Watermelon with Lavender Sea Salt

Please let me know how you make watermelon a little bit differently. I’d love to hear about it.

More Watermelon Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Fruit Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho

Refreshing Summer Soup, using summer's freshest ingredients.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 minute minute

Total Time 16 minutes minutes

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 cups watermelon
• 1 large fresh tomato
• 1 serrano pepper diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 4 slices cucumber
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or to taste
• vegetables reserved for garnish
• Fresh herbs such as mint for garnish
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Reserve some of the chopped watermelon, tomato, pepper for garnish.
• Put ingredients into a blender. Pulse to get the texture you like. I left my texture on the chunky side.

The post Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Do you have friends that you connect with on and off and somehow, even when you haven’t seen them for a while, (maybe a year or ten), you can just pick right back up?  And, then you wonder why you don’t see them more often? I have lots of these kinds of friends, some living in other states, and some right here not too far away, and it always makes me happy to reconnect with them, especially if it involves food.

Friendship is very complicated and this holds true the older I get. I have a friend who meant a lot to me and something happened between us that wasn’t our doing. We believed in something together and that something wasn’t what we thought it was. Our friendship had lots of commonality that I wish we could have stuck to, such as eating healthy food, our mutual love of the colors white and sea glass and the near neurotic need to have things at home in order. We both frazzle quite easily when things are cluttered and we don’t react well when people hurt us. We tend to retreat.

Many times during the last few years, we have tried to get together and it seems that one thing or another kept getting in the way. I wish we could have easily gone back to the first time we had dinner at my house. I served meatloaf. Meatloaf! Who serves meatloaf to company? But we ate in the kitchen and it was good, comfy meal that started a good, comfy friendship.

Last week I had heard my friend was moving out of state, going off to a new life, new journey with her husband and children, and I thought “I wish I could say goodbye” but she was leaving in a few days and probably too busy. To my surprise she followed me on twitter (my friends don’t usually do that) and I got a chance to wish her well in 144 characters or less.

She called the next day to say goodbye and asked me if I wanted her stash of frozen blackberries. By stash, she meant 10 large bags. Blackberries are special, and she could have offered them to anyone, but she chose me, and I’m guessing it’s because she knew they would mean something.

Not only did I feel a sudden joy to get those blackberries, I couldn’t wait to drive over and give her a real hug goodbye. We talked about blogging, her gorgeous daughters, her excitement that the house she is moving into has a real vegetable garden and we exchanged recipes. She turned me on to a platform I knew nothing about, Pinterest, a place to catalog your favorite things on the web, like white rooms and Spinach Tiger recipes.

The hand-picked blackberries were more than blackberries to me. It is now warmly established that I will remember her every time I do anything with this fruit. . As soon as I got in the door, I began to get out large pots and make blackberry syrup. Not having a real recipe, I instinctively threw in a cinnamon stick, sugar, some white wine and a little lemon. It’s a taste as you go kind of recipe that I can perfect with the next batch, but I have written out a guideline.

Blackberry juice is a dark stain. It’s gets all over things. It’s rich, vibrant and sexy. It lets you know it’s in the kitchen. And, it can take you lots of places. I made sorbet, sangria, salad dressing, and glazed watermelon, all at once, not only wanting to have some fun, but also to not waste anything my friend had hand picked.

How I ever got to making watermelon skewers on the grill glazed with blackberry syrup and sprinkled with lavender salt is as much mystery to me as the invention of chocolate and chile. Sometimes it just finds itself. I’ve always thought watermelon to be a perfect food that couldn’t be improved upon, but I must take that back.

It loves the glaze of blackberry syrup, and when it’s grilled, the flavors are enhanced. Lavender is tricky because it can turn into perfume. Restraint is a key word, but the sea salt brings a perfect balance to the sweetness of the syrup, the juiciness of the watermelon and the fragrance of the lavender. A smattering of freshly ground black pepper does not hurt this dish either. And, that is up to you.

If you don’t have blackberries or time to make a syrup, you can use raspberries, blueberries or even a melted down jelly or jam. You can use a regular sea salt or make your own lavender sea salt. Just be sure to use restraint with the lavender. It should be just a hint.

As far as picnic food, you can eat the melon right off the grill, or grilled and then chilled and taken along as a surprise remake of an old outdoor favorite food.

The way to truly enjoy this (almost meaty) rendition of watermelon is with a protein. For the gourmet picnic, I would pair it with prosciutto. Serve with blackberry sangria, (recipe to follow).

So tell me, what do YOU like to take on a picnic?

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Glazed Blackberry Watermelon with Lavender Sea Salt on the Grill Makes a PIcnic More than Gourmet

Grilled Watermelon with blackberry syrup, lavender sea salt perks up any cookout.

Course Dessert

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• Watermelon
• Blackberry syrup see below (or use blackberry jelly)
• Lavender sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper optional

Instructions

• Cut watermelon in to cubes
• Soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes so they don’t burn
• Place cubes on skewers. Brush with syrup.
• Grill a few minutes on high on each side. Sprinkle mildly with the sea salt.
• Cut watermelon in to cubes
• Soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes so they don’t burn
• Place cubes on skewers. Brush with syrup.
• Grill a few minutes on high on each side. Sprinkle mildly with the sea salt.

Blackberry Syrup

• 4 cups frozen blackberries (can use fresh)
• Enough water to cover just to cover
• Cinnamon stick
• Sugar to taste (1-2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons triple sec (optional)

1. Heat blackberries at a medium heat until sugar is melted and liquid is reduced
2. Take berries through a sieve to prevent seeding. Don’t force, but allow to sit over a bowl in a sieve or cheesecloth for an hour. Then gently crush through.

The post Grilled Blackberry Watermelon with Lavender Sea Salt appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

It’s almost 100 degrees and company is coming. Dessert will not come from an oven. But, I know watermelon is welcome and I’m sharing two recipes with you.

You cannot fail with watermelon in the hot summer. It’s the fruit I crave the most when the heat rises. It’s so juicy and sweet and is the perfect dessert simply sliced and plated. However…..

However, if you are having a special dinner guest in the middle of the week, you want to make something just to show your love.

Shane was my very first friend in Nashville 11 years ago, and I hadn’t seen him in a long time. He reached for his star and he’s living his dream as a successful song writer. I can say I knew him when. On his way to success, he helped me faux finish, even working with me on the Opryland Hotel. And, he is so down to earth and genuine that he still offered to help me faux finish my kitchen……because he hates it.

It didn’t seem unusual at all for him to come in, take a look around and tell me the green is all wrong. Well that very morning, I had decided the green had to go. We think alike and in 9 years, my kitchen is soon to see it’s 5th faux finish. We both agreed that icey blue is where it needed to go. I wonder if our decision is based on our reaction to the heat.

Of course, my husband is just shaking his head. “Here we go again.” Shane said he would help me do it. This is what I love about old friends. You don’t see each other for a long time and you just pick back up as if no time had passed. And, you give your opinion freely.

These kind of friendships aren’t built upon music business success or life status. These are the friendships that connect instantly and stand the test of time because they are based on something that’s hard to describe, but I’m sure you can think of a few people in your life that you have this with.

And, these kind of friends can come into your house and offer their opinion without offense because they see your place as their place. I love it because I did the exact same thing to him recently at his new condo. He wants a silver leaf ceiling, but I’m seeing medallion gold lusterstone. I ought to just pack my paint deck at all times, because I love to pick paint colors for other people. And, I also, like to tell people what to eat. But, it’s not my fault. It’s my Italian genes. Art and food are our life. Couple this with a mild case of assertive opinion, and you can see why we must find others like ourself to hang out with.

The Sorbet
The color alone is nearly enough for me. It’s really the true color of a ripe watermelon, not pale pinky quiet, but loud and juicy.

This is now my favorite sorbet out of my kitchen to date. The texture was unusual. It quickly melts in your mouth, but I loved it, and was so disappointed the next day when I went to the freezer and it was gone.

Sorbet Becomes a Cocktail
I pointed a finger at Mr. Spinach Tiger and he said it was still there, but way in the back. I took it out and thought “it’s cocktail hour” somewhere, and I had extra watermelon juice. I like vodka cocktails in the summertime, either with lemonade or with fresh juice, and as cold as I can get them.

I mixed the sorbet with some watermelon juice, vodka and splash of lime and had a nice moment. Is it wrong to drink a cocktail in the kitchen all alone pre-shower? Of course, not. I have to test my recipes, right?

Don’t ask me for exact measurements.

The ratio is somewhere around

• 3-1 sorbet to watermelon juice,
• 4-1 (that)juice to vodka or more if you like.

You could be more daring and exchange the vodka with tequila, but I can’t drink tequila alone. Mr. Spinach Tiger always salts his watermelon, so I salted the rim of the glass and it nicely balances the “sweet” of the drink. But, feel free to sugar the rim if you like it sweet.

Doesn’t this deep watermelon color refresh you instantly? Tell me, how are you keeping cool these days?

Sorbet Recipe
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. Makes 1 litre (1 quart).

• 3 pound watermelon (large to make extra watermelon juice for cocktails)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• big pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon tequila (original was vodka)

Make watermelon juice

1. Trim off rind, take off as many seeds as you can. Chop and put in blender. I used an immersion blender.
2. Strain through a mesh sieve to yield watermelon juice that has no seeds, no pulp.

Make simple syrup

1. Use 1 cup of watermelon juice with sugar.and salt. Heat in small saucepan until sugar is melted.
2. Add lime juice, remaining watermelon juice, and tequila. Chill thoroughly.
3. Process with ice cream maker.

The post Watermelon Sorbet and Watermelon Vodka Cocktail appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The joy of publishing a food blog is that suddenly the right side of the brain grows much larger than the left side and moving in the kitchen becomes increasingly fun and playful.

My right hemisphere told me to grill watermelon slices for dinner and my left hemisphere was so asleep it had no time to say, “no, no, no, watermelon has to be COLD, “ or” grilling melon is illogical.” But, seafood and fruit is a natural.

I didn’t search the food blogs or ravage through my many cook books and food magazines. I just thought it would be fun to grill some watermelon as a side dish to my sea scallops. I had no clue as to how to grill it, or how to season it, so I didn’t do much more than salt and a hot grill, but I’m sure you could take this in many directions.

Grilled watermelon, a little spinach cooked in garlic and olive oil , perfectly seared scallops and we have a sensible hot night in the south dinner that takes about 15 minutes, from beginning to end. Did I say sensible? Well sensible in that this is healthy and a much better choice than pizza delivery. But, still, there is a child-like flavor and attitude to this dish. Makes me think about the kind of food kids put together before people start teaching them from recipe books.

Still, I wondered how the watermelon would fare on a hot grill. Would it fall apart or lose its essence? The first bite was juicy, hot, firm, and did not overpower the sweetness of perfectly cooked scallops. Did I use that word “perfect “ again?

After watching Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, I am only all too aware of scallops not cooked properly. When I am making scallops I feel like I have the eyes of the judges or worse, Gordon Ramsay, looking at me waiting to pounce and spit in my face because I stupidly turned the scallops into rubber. Perhaps this fear has given me the patience and determination to make the perfect scallop, caramelized, yet tender and earning my due place inside a kitchen.

I recall that a few of the contestants on Top Chef did not pull the muscle off the scallop. HOW is that possible that they didn’t know? Even I would agree that the most perfectly cooked, seared, tender, sweet scallop that still has the rubbery, chewy muscle attached needs to be tossed across the room.

Thus, a sweet satisfaction every time my scallops turn out properly cooked. I can let out a big sigh of relief. And, now I brag, not because I am a know it all cook, but because I am over my scallopphobia! I think I have crossed over the “take a first bite with my eyes closed” to see if they are judge worthy. Sure, I have made scallops, here and here, but today I crossed the totally consistent perfection line because this makes three times in a row of the perfect Top Chef worthy scallop.

I discovered in my research that I am not alone in this scallop intenseness. Sippity Sup, a fellow food blogger, shares fascinating and funny information about reasons for scallop failure citing the additive STP as the most likely culprit. He offers some recommendations on how to purchase and cook scallops that is worth a trip to his site.

And, there are other reasons for my commitment to scallop perfection. Wild scallops are expensive and I only eat wild scallops, so cooking them improperly is a real ouch. And, most importantly, scallops are my husband’s favorite food in the whole world. A few minutes of standing over a hot saute pan and delivering up these sea beauties will get me lots of points, cappuccino in bed, dishes done, and a Kitchen Aid maybe just maybe? Oops, I forgot he reads my blog, but I didn’t come up with this tag line for nothing.

Does this combination work?
Surprisingly well. It’s a sweet meat upon a sweet fruit leveled with a generous dash of sea salt, taking in completely different textures, resulting in a dinner that is beautiful to look at and thirst quenching. But, the real test..is it “memorable” and the next day, we wanted it again.

Is there a new combination that you have just tried? Is there a food or dish you need to conquer? Tell me about it here. Perhaps we can conquer it together!

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Grilled Watermelon with Seared Wild Scallops

A wonderful mix of flavors and textures, seared scallops and grilled watermelon.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound scallops
• olive oil to cover pan
• watermelon slices cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
• salt pepper

Instructions

• Bring scallops to near room temperature. Ice cold scallops won’t cook inside.
• Remove muscle, a little rubbery piece on side of scallop.
• Pat Dry. Season with salt and pepper
• Use a pan (not non-stick) that is large enough to give each scallop plenty of room. I use all-clad 12 inch pan.
• When scallops are crowded, they steam, instead of caramelize.
• Add enough butter in pre-heated pan that when melted pan is covered. Add in a little bit of olive oil.
• Add scallops to hot pan, and do not try to turn until they are brown and no longer stick, 4-6 minutes.
• Turn and cook for a few more minutes. Immediately remove from pan.
• WATERMELON RECIPE
• The watermelon was doused a tiny drizzle of olive oil and salt, and grilled on high, until I decided it gets grill marks.

Recipes Featuring Grilled Watermelon

• Grilled Watermelon Salad at Suite101.com
• Grilled Watermelon at Food Blogga
• Halibut with Grilled Watermelon

Or try my Blackberry Glazed Watermelon with Lavender Sea Salt on a day I did get fancy.

The post Grilled Watermelon with Seared Wild Scallops appeared first on Spinach Tiger.