Fruity Gazpacho

Blame the gazpacho.

Yes, it was a bowl of tomato-y, onion-y, pepper-y soup that heaved my culinary style into the camp called seasonal fare.

Setting: A basement meeting room in a downtown hotel in Kansas City.

Time: November, not the unseasonably warm and sunny golden days that Missourians love but an unseasonably wet and bone-chilling day that Missourians dread.

By noon, the group was shivering and starved, happy to move just to generate heat, better yet to hunt up lunch in the next room.

Waiting there were big bowls of soup. “Ooo,” we thought. “Something warm.” But instead the soup was cold, spicy gazpacho, a summer specialty. Not a spoonful was eaten.

So make it hot soup in November. But on a steamy summer day, cold soup is refreshing and soothing. This is a new-this-summer favorite shared by a Webster Groves reader who reports that her young sons eat it up.

It’s savory enough for a starter, hearty enough for a main dish and sweet enough for a dessert – really!

ALANNA's TIPS Fruity Gazpacho holds its taste and color in the fridge for several days so don’t hesitate to make two batches one after the other to use up the cucumber, pepper and avocado. If you’re watching calories closely, the avocado creates a creamier texture but isn’t essential. I've learned the hard way to pull out the food processor: my low-power blender doesn't have enough power to blend this mixture. It might do better if the melon and vegetables were cut into small pieces.