Watermelon & Tomato Gazpacho

I was in Manhattan last week for a mind-blowingly-fabulous wedding in Brooklyn! The weather was blisteringly hot and The Liberty Warehouse on Pier 41 in the historic shipping yards of Red Hook, Brooklyn where the wedding, the feasting and the dancing took place was something else with the Statue of Liberty looking on and Manhattan in the background - very, very special indeed!

Of course, there was a fair amount of eating and drinking throughout the week with great friends - plus lots of new friends!

Two that I should mention: ABC Kitchen - everything our server, George suggested was superb (there was a lot of oohing and aahing going on). And yes, the salted caramel ice cream, chocolate sauce and popcorn was everything that past reviewers of the restaurant have raved about!

The Empire Diner at 210 10th Ave (corner of 22nd Street) where ‘he and me’ had a late brunch (pastrami on rye for himself, avocado toast and a really-spicy Bloody Mary for me). But it’s really more about the place which apparently has closed and opened over the years but locals keep coming back! It is a beautiful and fabulously-art deco space where you just kind of want to sit around and enjoy for hours!

However… you might be wondering where the soup in the intro pic came from? Well, as I mentioned, it was blisteringly hot and somehow or other the conversation moved onto chilled soups one lunchtime and I was reliably-informed by a number of NYC residents that there are a number of restaurants and diners that do a brilliant Watermelon & Tomato Gazpacho when the weather is unbearably hot and it is said that there is nothing like it to cool you down. I didn’t get a chance to partake but blow-me-down, when we arrived back in Glasgow, the weather was magnificent so I gave it a try and it was a bit of a triumph! Thanks to Mark Bittman, the widely respected food writer for the bones of this recipe in one of his very many New York Times columns. Here’s it is…

I LOVE SARDINES! It’s not just because I discovered in my later years that they are incredibly good for my bones (once I started training to become a nutritional therapist, you understand), I have always loved the salty, fishy taste - I love anchovies too btw!

Mashed up, tinned sardines (in oil, not in brine or in tomato sauce, please) on toast are the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of greener than green soup for a quick lunch. OR - if you have been lucky enough to pass through Portugal and have a few tins of sardine paste lurking your fridge, you are in luck!

The Portuguese are more than a little obsessive about these ‘silver darlings’ but only from late June to September when they are ‘fat’. The rest of the time they will opt for the canned versions when they know that they were harvested and canned during the peak season.

One of my ‘sardine-obsessive’ Portuguese pals tells me that the only way to eat sardines during the season is in a restaurant with a sympathetic chef that grills them on the barbecue, serves only two at a time (and keeps them coming) and as it is a gloriously-messy affair, you should be wearing an old t-shirt and shorts that you can sling in the washing machine after a fabulously-indulgent lunch! Hard to argue with that I reckon!

I offer many ‘greener than green’ soups on my souperydupery website but I am particularly keen on my Pea, Mint & Lettuce Soup alongside sardines on toast - a worthy contender! Loads of fabulous vitamins and minerals in that combo - and let’s not forget the vitamin D for our bones, our heart health, our mental acuity and the rest from the sardines..…