Grilled Cantaloupe Soup

Finally! We've been shopping for a grill now for about four months, and this weekend we finally bit the bullet and purchased one! It's a beauty--and of course I've been grilling every single day since then! The best part about grilling is that it's all done outside, which means you don't have to heat up the stove or the oven to make dinner. I haven't dirtied a pot or pan since Saturday, and I think Adrienne would agree that's a major accomplishment when I'm doing the cooking.

On my third day of grilling, I decided it was time to make some soup. I made cantaloupe soup but you can certainly substitute honeydew, crenshaw, or any other melon that is ripe and delicious where you are. (I'm not sure if grilling watermelon would work very well due to the high water content, but if anyone tries it, please drop me a line to let me know.) For those of you who don't have grills--you can still make this soup too. You'll find instructions for a non-grilled version below the main recipe.*

I serve this soup with a dollop of my homemade nonfat Greek-style yogurt** which is unbelievably delicious. I urge you to try making some of your own (recipe below), but look out---it's addictive!

The versatility of this soup is a definite plus. You can you make it for a first course or in between courses as a palate cleanser. Naturally, it can also work as a light refreshing dessert. What's more, you can use any leftover salsa to top grilled fish or chicken. Or add salsa and cantaloupe juice to some chilled white wine for a slammin' white sangria.

Grilled Cantaloupe Soup

with Green Grape, Melon Mint Salsa
Makes 2 servings

1/2 ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and sliced into 1/2 inch half-moons

Basting Sauce:
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp fresh mint, chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat grill to medium-high. Place melon slices on grill and baste tops with sugar, mint, lemon mixture and cook for about 2 minutes, until melon is very lightly browned.

2. Turn melon, being careful not to break the slices, baste the other side, then let cook for 1-2 minutes. Carefully remove melon from grill and bring any remaining basting liquid inside with you.

3. To make the soup, add melon and basting liquid to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste and add more fresh mint if you like. Depending on the sweetness of your melon, you may also add more brown sugar--just remember to let the brown sugar dissolve before adding it to the soup.

4. Chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours. Serve in chilled glasses with Greek yogurt** and green grape, melon mint salsa.

Green Grape, Melon Mint Salsa

1/2 cup green grapes, quartered lengthwise
1/2 cup finely diced cantaloupe
2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped

1 Tbsp light brown sugar

Combine all ingredients and let the mixture sit 5-10 minutes until brown sugar dissolves.

*Note: If you don't have a grill or decide that it's just too darned hot to go outside, you can skip grilling the melon all together. The soup won't have quite the depth of flavor, but will certainly still be delicious. Just combine the cantaloupe with the basting mixture, puree until smooth, and top with yogurt and salsa.

**Greek yogurt is thick and rich which means it can also be expensive. To make your own low fat Greek-style yogurt, just strain the liquid out of regular nonfat plain yogurt for about 8 hours. Wrap the yogurt in cheesecloth and sit it in a bowl fitted with a strainer overnight in your refrigerator. In the morning, discard the drained liquid and in the cheesecloth you'll find the most luxurious plain yogurt you've ever tasted!

Print this recipe!

Gouda and Pear Soup

If only the Gracious Bowl had our complete attention for 40-50 hours each week. The month of March flew by with little time for soup and even less time for blogging. We'd been going pretty strong for awhile with pretty regular posts, but then March Madness began... and I'm not talking Carolina hoops here. The past several weeks were mostly a whirlwind of getting up, heading to the office, getting home late, going to bed and getting up to do it all over again. Work started creeping into weekends too--and yes, that's an S for plural. We watched the calendar fly by as a date for soup swap kept being pushed back another week, another week, and yet another. Suddenly spring was here, cherry blossoms were blooming, and tourist season in DC had officially begun. I fear the swap may have be on hold until...October?

I'm not complaining. I'm pleased to have a job that I enjoy in city I love. I know my priorities. It's just draining when it begins to interfere with any and all free time and you start putting the other things you love, like cooking and blogging aside. Needless to say, the last thing I wanted to do at home was get back online after spending my long hours at work planted in front of two monitors. All I wanted to do when I stepped foot in the door was turn into a vegetable for a couple of hours, then go to sleep. .

Lucky for me, overtime at work is not a mainstay. It comes and goes in waves and I can almost always see the horizon in the distance. I'm also fortunate to have an understanding boss who's flexible and encourages a work/life balance.

My segue with all this is... when you know you have a busy week ahead of you, soup is a great option for getting a head start. If you can find an hour or two to make it on Sunday, then you're set for the next few days with a quick lunch or dinner that need only a zap in the microwave. That is, if you don't mind repeating a meal. While some of us can eat the same thing day in and day out for a week, others (ahem, Margaret!) have to be coaxed into eating any leftovers beyond the next day. Whatever your tolerance for a certain dish, you should be sure you try this recipe at least once.

Pear and Gouda Soup
with toasted walnut-cranberry salsa

2 ripe pears, cored, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp minced fresh ginger 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
4 oz baby Gouda cheese, cut into small pieces (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup pure apple juice or sweet white wine
salt and ground white pepper to taste
freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Walnut-Cranberry Salsa ingredients:
1/2 unpeeled red-skinned pear, cored and julienned
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp minced toasted walnuts
2 tbsp coarsely chopped dried cranberries
dash of freshly grated nutmeg

1. Combine the pears, vegetable stock, ginger, and nutmeg in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the pears are very tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. While soup is simmering, make the salsa: stir together all the ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.

3. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour and stir until smooth, about 1 minute. (Do not let it brown.) Remove from the heat. Gradually whisk in the milk. Place the pan back on medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to simmer. Reduce the heat to low and stir constantly until thickened, about 4 minutes. Add the cheese and stir until melted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

4. Puree the pear mixture in a blender until smooth. Add to the cheese sauce and stir constantly over low heat until heated through. Gradually stir in the apple juice or wine and continue to heat, but do not let the soup come to a boil. Season to taste.

5. Top each serving with a sprinkling of nutmeg and a mound of salsa. Other garnish options include croutons on the side for dipping or extra-thin slices of gouda (a vegetable peeler works best).

Recipe courtesy of Paulette Mitchell's A Beautiful Bowl of Soup.

Mango & Avocado Salad with Tilapia

We know you're probably here looking for a soup, but this time we've got a light, refreshing salad I threw together for dinner tonight. While I'm trying to train myself to only eat locally, I couldn't resist these new pear-shaped, yellow-skinned champagne mangos from Mexico. They're smaller and a lot less fibrous than typical green mangos, so I picked up 2 for a buck at WFM yesterday. The unexpected flavor combination with the tilapia, avocado, and cuke was the perfect end to a hot 90-degree day here in DC. So, kick back on your patio or balcony and treat yourself to a glass of pinot grigio and a gracious bowl of this guilt-free salad. And if you want to have soup too, this serves as a great accompaniment!

I learned a valuable lesson with mangoes that I will share--if you're allergic to poison ivy, then don't go near mango skins with a ten foot pole. I scraped the juicy mango from the skin with my teeth and soon developed a rash on my mouth! Be warned! But it's only the skin that causes the problem, so just have someone else do the peeling and you can still enjoy mangoes all you want!


Mango & Avocado Salad with Tilapia
Serves 2

1 champagne mango, peeled & chopped
1 avocado, peeled & chopped
1/3 cucumber, sliced longways
2 tilapia filets (or another mild white fish)
4 leaves of red leaf lettuce, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
squeeze of half a lime

1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Pour a touch or tablespoon of olive oil in to heat. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper on each side. When olive oil is hot, place the fish in the pan and let them cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

2. Take the chopped red leaf lettuce and dress it with a drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of lime, and salt and pepper. Assemble the rest of the salad with mango, avocado, and cucumber. Give another squeeze of lime and toss. Serve in bowls and top with the tilapia, broken up or whole.

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

I know it's been over a week since we last posted a soup. But I just couldn't figure out what on earth to do with this butternut squash that I bought last week.

See, every year when winter squash come into season I gravitate towards it at the grocery store. I always want to make something new with it, something different, something exotic. But then I assume that it will take way too long to cook, or that if I try to cut into it I might lose a finger, or that it will be more trouble than it's worth. But of course I always buy one anyway. I love a challenge!

Butternut squash has a really thick skin that I find difficult to peel, so I figured the easiest way to deal with this sucker was to leave the skin on, cut it in quarters, de-seed it, season it and chuck it in the oven. It took awhile to cook but I was able to leave it alone and check on it once in a while until it was tender. After peeling the skin away from the flesh, I put it in the fridge and made the soup with it the next day.

What about the exotic part, you ask? Now, I think that squash can be pretty bland on it's own. But a little curry powder changes everything! And since I like a little sweet with my spicy, I throw in a pear to sweeten things up (a little trick I learned from a favorite vegetarian cookbook author of mine named Anna Thomas.)

Since all the "hard" work was done the night before, the rest of the soup only took about 20 minutes to prepare! If you like soup a little bit spicy and a little bit sweet, this one's a keeper!

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup
Serves 4-6

1 medium-sized butternut squash
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 bartlett pear, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp powdered ginger (try fresh if you have it!)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 good turns on the black pepper mill
salt to taste
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
cilantro for garnish

1. Quarter and seed the squash and rub with olive oil, salt and pepper then roast at 400 degrees until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool and scoop out the flesh. (You can do this up to 3 days ahead of time.)

2. Saute the onion and pear until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add the curry, cinnamon, and ginger and let them toast for a minute, then add the squash. Add the chicken or vegetable broth and let it all simmer for another 10 minutes.

3. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (my preferred method) or in a blender (but be careful to do it in small batches...splattering liquids are HOT!) Add the cream and stir.

4. Feel free to garnish with cilantro and a little more cream.