Watermelon and cucumber gazpacho
Kaiser Permanente people, in partnership with the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association, keep expanding the reach of our farmers' markets. Market leaders in our Santa Teresa facility created a "Cookin' The Market" program that takes fresh farmers' market foods out to community groups and schools for cooking demonstrations. They received a commendation from the City of San Jose for their role in teaching the public about better nutrition. Evidently, the per capita intake of tomatoes is 17 pounds per year in the United States.
Use some of your 10,000 steps per day to go to a farmers' market and pick up fresh, local ingredients for this week's nonfat offering. This is a great appetizer that's sweet with heat.
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 seedless watermelon (about 3 lb), diced (you need only about 5 cups, which leaves extras for snacking)
- 1 cucumber, diced (Armenian cucumbers don't need to be peeled)
- 1 large yellow or red bell pepper
- 1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced (even one small one makes the gazpacho quite spicy — you will need to experiment with this depending on the household tastes)
- 1/2 small red onion, diced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint (takes a handful of leaves)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (one large lime or 1- 1/2 small ones)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Purée 4 cups of the watermelon.
- In a large bowl, mix in the remaining watermelon and everything else.
- Taste for "heat." Add more jalapeño if you wish.
- Chill for at least an hour.