Melon Margarita

I had a gorgeous, juicy cantaloupe that was going to be less than edible very soon. I knew I couldn't eat it all before it went bad, so I put the rest of it in a Ziploc and threw it in freezer to save for hot steamy day like today.

I had just enough tequila left for one margarita. I took a handful of frozen melon chunks right out of the freezer, dropped them into the blender along with the remaining tequila and a few glugs of sour mix.

A few whirls in the blender, just enough to puree the fruit, and my drink was ready to pour. It was frothy, icy cold from the fruit but not watered down because of any ice. It was the perfect cooling, refreshing drink for a hot summer day like today.

Cheers! 

Cool Eats: Melon-Mango Soup

All this week I'm featuring "Cool Eats," recipes that require little to no stovetop time; perfect recipes to take the edge off that summer heat!

I can't think of a more delectable recipe for ending "Cool Eats" week-and this one requires NO cooking. In fact, you'll have it whipped together in a matter of minutes.

What goes in this fabulous treat? Mangoes, cantaloupe, a little sugar, some white wine, and lemon juice. That's pretty much it. Oh, and a splash of half and half.

I discovered champagne mangoes this summer--they're a bit smaller and much less fibrous than regular mangoes. Huzzah!

These are some slippery ingredients, so don't worry if it gets a little messy. Make sure your hands are clean, that you've scrubbed the outside of the fruits before slicing them, and just toss it all together in the blender.

We chilled these in the hollowed out cantaloupes for an extra bit of fun. It was even more scrumptious scooping out bits of cantaloupe from the fruit while eating the soup!

Mango-Melon Soup
1 mango, pitted
1 cup cantaloupe, just scooped out of shell
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine (dry or sweet)
2 Tbs sugar
Splash of half and half (or 2 Tbs greek yogurt--we were out of yogurt at the time!)


Toss everything in a blender and give it a good whirl. I poured the soup back into the cantaloupe halves and chilled them about an hour. Divine!

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Cool Eats: Cold Noodle Salad

All this week I'm featuring "Cool Eats," recipes that require little to no stovetop time; perfect recipes to take the edge off that summer heat!

This cold Asian noodle salad takes a little time in the kitchen-- or you can also use leftovers to make it even simpler. It's a tangy, cool, salty salad that is even better the next day! Thanks to Jen A for bringing this delectable dish into my life. It's the perfect pairing with a cold beverage on a hot summer day.

We started with some local zucchini I bought through FreshDirect.com--they were on sale for 50 cents EACH! Score!

Also from FreshDirect--rainbow chard. Check out those colors--aren't they stunning? Gorgeous green, fiery fuschia--all natural, no yellow Dye Number 3 or what have you.

First stovetop move: boil up some soba noodles--those only take a quick 3 minutes or so, then drain and cool.

A quick sauté of some veggies (we used squash, chopped sugar snap peas, scallions), chicken and tofu and we were good to go. A toss of everything with a cracktastic sauce (recipe below) and a generous toss of toasted sesame seeds and this dish will have you feeling happy and healthy. Chill it before serving--and save those leftovers, because it's even BETTER the next day.

This is an easily-adaptable recipe: don't follow it letter-for-letter. Scrounge through your fridge and add leftover veggies, a little bit of this, some of that, and it will always be delicious (and affordable)!

Cold Noodle Salad (Credit: Jen A)

2 cups leftover/sautéed veggies
handful soba noodles
1 cup chicken/tofu (or combo)
Toasted sesame seeds

Sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 T toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed or minced
1 T honey
2 T green onions (green part)
Toasted sesame seeds

Add first 5 ingredients, mix thoroughly. Add green onions & seeds at end. Splash over salad, reserve the rest for later (also great for dunking dumplings!)

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Cool Eats: Cold Cherry Soup

All this week I'm featuring "Cool Eats," recipes that require little to no stove-top time; perfect recipes to take the edge off that summer heat!

Cherry soup can be heavy and not-so-healthy, but this recipe comes out cool, bright, and deliciously decadent, despite its being not-so-bad for you!

This recipe comes together easily, with only about 15 minutes of stovetop time. It's a riff on the Martha Rose Shulman recipe that was in the New York Times last month. It's healthy, light, and so refreshing!

Fresh cherries can be expensive, so if they go on sale, nab 'em! Or, just splurge on a bit of summer's best work. A fruit stand in my Brooklyn nabe sells them 2 pounds for 8 bucks--that woman has seen a lot of me this summer. :)

Three of us set to pitting 2 lbs of cherries by hand--honestly? Not that difficult. And whatever dropped outside of the bowl, we got to eat. :) Make sure to save the pits, because that's what you use to make a sort of cherry 'stock.'

Mmmm...pitty.

After boiling the pits in the water, you remove them, put in everything but the cherries,yogurt and almond extract, and let it go five more minutes. Then add the cherries, let it "simmah down nah" for five minutes more. You're almost done!

A quick whisking of 1 cup cherry liquid into the yogurt gets the final step going. After the first cup came together, we added the almond extract. I briefly considered adding more than the teaspoon, but the flavor is even stronger the next day, so I think the 1 tsp. is sufficient. And awesome. :)

I couldn't help thinking that this would be equally delectable spooned over some vanilla ice cream, or freshly-sliced peaches and bananas. Any other serving suggestions?

This is dead simple and so, so, so fantastic. We had the first round for dessert with dinner, and more the next day for breakfast. Yay, summer!

Cold Cherry Soup (adapted from Martha Rose Shulman's NYT recipe)

5 cups water

scant 1/2 cup sugar (use less if berries are very sweet)

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 teaspoon salt

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp almond extract (YUM)

2 pounds sweet, dark cherries, pits reserved

1 cup Greek-style yogurt (we used Fage 2%)

Bring 5 cups to boil in saucepan. Add pits and boil 5 minutes. Remove pits (water will be tinged rosy-pink) and add everything but the cherries and yogurt. Stir gnently to mix, then let go for about 5 minutes at a rolling boil before adding the cherries. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat to start cooling down.

Take 1 cup of the warm cherry mixture and whisk it into another bowl with the yogurt, whisking quickly, then slowly add the rest, cup by cup. Let it cool down before putting in the fridge. As Ms. Shulman says, you may have to stir it up again before serving, but we didn't really notice any separating.





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