Name: Watermelon gazpacho
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 16 min
Yield: 2 - 3 glasses
Ingredients: 4 tsp sweet basil seeds glass approx; 2 cups cubed watermelon; 1 small red tomato chopped; Steamed Half a beet (optional); 1 freshly squeezed blood orange (very high in antioxidant ( optional - I have used)); 1 tbsp evoo; 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon; Pinch of cayenne pepper/red mirch powder - for the kick (optional ); 1 tsp grounded fennel (optional); 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional); 6-7 sprigs of fresh mint leaves; Rock salt to taste; 1 tsp freshly grated ginger; 1 tbsp Finely chopped cucumber - for the crunch

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I am so excited to share this one with you. I had entered a summer soup contest on one of the facebook groups and I won ..Yayyyyy!! there were over 150 awesome entries and truly speaking all were so good . But I am so elated that I made it to the top .Thus want to share my happiness and this gorgeous recipe with you.

Let me brief you up about this soup and how perfect it is during the hot summers.

Gazpacho – A Spanish soup made many ways traditionally with ripe tomatoes, veggies , olive oil and spices

And the best part of all its served cold. So don’t shy away from relishing soups in summer .

Gazpacho’s are yummy , easy to make where no cooking involved and a great way to get your daily fruit and veggie servings.

Coming back to my version of gazpacho

You probably do not know I am a big fan of seasonal produce – and the following soup idea comes from the grocery store – my biggest inspiration 🙂

As the theme of the contest was summer soup I wanted to incorporate ingredients which actually have a cooling effect.

So the first ingredient that i could think of is

Any Guesses???

Watermelon !!!!! the perfect summer fruit – It has a very high water content and hence helps keeping body temperature down . Can’t imagine summers without them.

So i knew I have to use it.

Next one on my mind was – herbs – best coolant

so decided to go with mint

if you keep following my blog you will spot my love for herbs. I add them in about anything.

Third one was of course tomatoes.. ok now things were coming together .

I had already started to imagine the taste and something was missing

hmmmm… the crunch and some texture. Oh by the way i love crunch in my food – even in my soup.

so decided to use cucumber too – again a super coolant.

Once i started gathering all the ingredients from the refrigerator – I stumbled upon a packet of holy basil seeds (aka sabja/takmaria ).

the ones we use in the famous falooda . Immediately I knew I have to use it too. Basil seeds are considered to be the best coolant.

I was already so excited

I had half a beetroot lying in my fridge – I decided to use that too

And a blood orange too ( i had it so used it) – yes they are kinda bitter but i love having them when mixed with something . They are high in vitamin C, calcium , Vitamin A and folic acid.

I even used grounded fennel (sauf) – to add sweetness and not to mention – it has fabulous cooling properties and many benefits too.

And of course the lemons.

It was so much fun to make this summer cooler and tasted just perfect.

And I decided to serve it in a glass for super stylish look garnished it with mint and scooped melons .

Highlights

Almost no cook

Ready in minutes

Super healthy

Super tasty

No added sugar

Do give it a try and drop in your valuable comments and suggestions and

if you make it ,send me your clicks on so that I can feature it on my facebook page – carveyourcraving .