Chilled summer fruit gazpacho with raspberry sauce

On a hot afternoon, a bowl of chilled fruit can feel like exactly the right amount of effort: almost none. This gazpacho asks for no stove, no oven, and only a few minutes with a blender, which makes it an easy thing to reach for when you would rather spend your energy elsewhere.

Watermelon and strawberries carry water, natural sweetness, and a deep color that is inviting before you even taste it. Strawberries and raspberries are a source of vitamin C, involved in the body's everyday repair work, and the red and pink of the berries comes from polyphenols studied for antioxidant support; berries also tend to carry less sugar than many other fruits. Hold those notes gently; the point of this bowl is simply good, real fruit.

There is a quiet reverence in serving yourself something this beautiful. Spoon the raspberry sauce into the center, let it bleed pink into the watermelon, add a few mint leaves, and take your time with it. You made this, and it is exactly as good as it looks.

Ingredients

Gazpacho base

• pulp of 1/2 medium watermelon (about 10 inches across)
• 2 lbs strawberries, stemmed and quartered

Raspberry sauce

• 6 oz raspberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• zest of 1 organic lemon
• 4 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk, plus extra for drizzling
• fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Method

Scoop the watermelon flesh into a deep pot or large bowl. Add the quartered strawberries. Blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth.

Make the sauce in a separate bowl. Mash the raspberries with a fork, then stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and coconut milk until it comes together.

Chill both the soup and the sauce until cold. To serve, ladle a portion of soup into each bowl, spoon a little raspberry sauce into the center, scatter mint leaves, and finish with a thin drizzle of coconut milk. It keeps a few days covered in the refrigerator.

This is a no-cook, chilled dish, so there is no appliance variation to give. An immersion blender is the only tool it needs, and a standard blender works just as well.

If raspberries are out of season, blueberries, blackberries, or cherries stand in for the sauce. The hollowed watermelon shell makes a striking serving bowl if you are putting it on a table for others.

*Adapted from a-squirrel-in-the-kitchen*