DAIRY-FREE MELON SOUP

 

Sweet, with a lot of juice, tasty and refreshing, the melon is in season between the months of June and September, it is one of the most consumed fruits in summer and offers many possibilities.

Taking it as it is, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy it, but if you are few, a melon lasts too long and you have to find other ways out, one way to use it is to prepare a cold melon soup.

The cold melon soup is a classic summer recipe that is usually accompanied by ham, thus versioning the typical melon with ham, but which can also be served with mint leaves decorated with seeds, thus being a vegetarian and vegan dish.

 

 

It is common to find recipes that contain cucumber and mint, it is also common to make it with yogurt or cream cheese, I have prepared it free of dairy products and to add body, I have added previously soaked cashews.

 

Melon soup is another summer recipe that can not be missed.

 

When a soup of this type is made, the most common is to thicken it with dairy products, it is usually added, cream, yogurt or a cream cheese to give creaminess and body.

As the idea I had was to make a soup for everyone, I have prepared it without dairy and to thicken it I have chosen to add raw cashews previously soaked, cashews offer many possibilities and one of them is to be a magnificent thickener.

I usually use cashews in dips and sauces because they give me the option to create texture, to thicken without the need to use dairy or starches.

 

Cashews serve to thicken and give texture, its neutral flavor makes the melon the protagonist.

 

If for whatever reason we want to avoid nuts, tapioca starch or arrowroot starch (arrow root), both from roots and gluten-free, they are a good option, especially if you follow a paleo diet, low in carbohydrates. carbon or if it is intolerant, better than corn starch or wheat flour, for example.

To make this cold melon soup, it is only necessary to have a melon that is very juicy, salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice, the previously soaked cashews will be what gives it body and texture.

 

 

If you want to give it a very fresh touch, you can add peppermint or mint leaves to the soup and crush them too, or simply decorate them with them.

To finish the dish I like to add a few drops of EVOO and some seeds, roasted sesame seeds are great, pumpkin and sunflower seeds too.

 

Decorate this soup with seeds and mint, and if you are a fan of melon with ham then put ham, you decide.

 

Melon is a summer fruit with many beneficial properties, it is rich in water with a very sweet taste, yet it has less sugar than it might seem.

 

Properties and benefits of melon:

• Rich in water
• Contains vitamin C, 100 grams of melon provides us with more than half of the recommended daily dose.
• It is rich in folates, like orange.
• Good source of potassium, a mineral responsible for the proper functioning of the nervous system.
• Its water content is very high, 92%
• It contains between one 6 and 8 grams of sugar, approximately, for each 100 grams, depending on the variety and the point of maturation.
• It is estimated that it provides about 28 Kcal per 100 grams, which is not much.

 

There are many varieties of melon, but one of the most consumed here in Spain is that of the toad skin variety, with a green skin similar to that of the toad and a juicy and sweet meat.

It is easy to also find yellow, green, galia and cantaloupe melons, all have in common being sweet and juicy, with some variations of flavor and texture.

 

 

Cashews are very advisable nuts, they contain healthy fats, and the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids (AGM) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (AGP) is 2: 1, which is very suitable, since they are the AGM, the best for our cardiovascular health

 

This recipe gives you vitamins, minerals and healthy fats, a most advisable mix.

 

Cashew properties:

• Rich in healthy fats.
• They contain minerals such as iron, zinc, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.
• They also have proteins, an 15%.
• Vitamin E and group B.
• They have folic acid and phytosterols.
• They contain carbohydrates, an 30% of their content.
• And they also provide Omega 6.
• Your fiber input is not too high.
• And they have 553 kcal for every 100 grams.

 

Watch the video-recipe, you will like it:

 

What do you think of this soup? Such a simple dish and gives us many vitamins, minerals and healthy fats, is an explosion of flavor and is delicious. Dare to try it, you have the recipe a little below. 😉

 

If you liked this recipe, you may also like:

• Cold cucumber soup without dairy.
• Thai coconut soup.
• Beetroot gazpacho.