Chilled Honeydew Soup with Mint

Talk about easy and DELICIOUS!  This recipe is summer time in a well chilled bowl.  Bursting with natural

flavor, this soup is healthy and refreshing.  It can be made a couple days in advance and works very well for summer parties, dinners, desserts, or any time you feel like cooling down with something delicious.  Enjoy it the way it is, or use it as a base for other things, like fresh fruit skewers, scoops of frozen berry or citrus sorbet, or as the base for a new and wonderful summer cocktail (think melon mojito).

Ripe summer melons need very little, if anything at all, to accentuate their natural flavor.  They're very sweet, so a touch of acid (lime juice) will provide the necessary balance, and the mint adds a refreshing counter flavor.  You can easily substitute mint with basil, thai basil or lemon basil.

This will cool you in the upcoming hot summer months, refresh your palate before or after any meal, and enable you to make something fast and easy when spending time in the kitchen may not be your priority.  In restaurants, I used to make these as pre-meal 'shooters' during the summer months.  They were so popular, customers would ask for glasses of the mix to enjoy with their meals.

On a side note, you can easily sub the honeydew for watermelon, or any other exotic summer melon (cantaloupes don't work as well, their flavor is harder to work with).  The trick in producing this soup correctly is ensuring you strain it thoroughly.  You want to remove any bits of fiber or grit, producing the cleanest and most refined product possible!  I like to add small scoops of melon balls as a garnish, but you can easily add berries, grapes, diced sweet fruits like pineapple, or nothing at all!

Chilled Honeydew Soup with Mint

Prep time:  5 minutes
Inactive cook time:  approx 1 hour
Yield:  6 portions

Ingredients:

2 medium sized ripe honeydew melons, peeled and seeds removed
3 mint leaves, very fine chiffonade (roll the leaves together and thinly slice- google it for a better idea)
3 mint leaves whole
juice of 3 limes
1 tbsp honey
1/2 a cantaloupe and 1/2 sweet melon, your choice (watermelon, honeydew, casaba, crenshaw, or whatever looks good and is ripe)

Method:

In a food processor or juicer, process the honeydew and whole mint leaves.  Strain through a very fine mesh strainer (or let drip through a large coffee filter).

While the liquid is straining, scoop the other melons using a small melon baller.

Add the honey and lime juice (don't use all the lime juice at first, leave a little to adjust the seasoning).  Add the chiffonade mint leaves and melon balls.

Adjust final seasoning with lime juice.

Serve chilled in cold bowls.

Enjoy.