If you have not had a chilled fruit soup before, please do! How do I describe this? Let me try. It's like a foamy, light, delicious smoothie, but you eat it with a spoon. Nah! That doesn't do it justice - just go ahead and make some. It takes a melon, a blender, and 5 minutes. It is Summer after all....
You can use any sweet melon, but I particularly like Cantaloupe in this soup. The light peachy color is just beautiful! And it makes an extremely refreshing first course for a light lunch or dinner. I served this as the starter for lunch with friends on Sunday, followed by Curried Chicken Salad sandwiches.
One more thing. You need a nice powerful blender to get the nice, light, frothy mixture. If your blender is a bit sluggish, you might want to start with crushed ice. I have a Vita-mix and it can liquefy anything.
Chilled Melon Soup
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated
Serves 4
1 medium cantaloupe
2 tsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice
4 large sprigs fresh mint
1 cup ice cubes
1. Seed and peel the cantaloupe. Cut into 2-inch chunks. You should have approx. 6 cups of fruit.
2. Pick the mint leaves off the stems. Use a mortar and pestle (or a rolling pin) to gently pound the mint till it is bruised and aromatic.
3. Place the melon, honey, lemon juice, mint, and ice cubes in a blender and blend until the mixture is liquefied and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Ladle into individual bowls and serve immediately.
