Looking for some sophisticated party fun?

Here’s an idea from Elegant Affairs Caterers, riffing on tomato soup and grilled cheese:

Gazpacho shooters, topped with mini grilled cheese sandwiches.

Make your favorite gazpacho recipe, and use thin bread for the grilled cheese (photo #1).

Another fun gazpacho idea: top the shot glass with Tostitos Scoops filled with salsa (photo #2).

Or, create your own duo. Our mom was fond of hanging a large shrimp over the rim, with a sprig of dill on top of the gazpacho.

Here are some gazpacho recipes to start you off:

 
 
MORE FOOD FUN

[1] Gazpacho shooters with mini grilled cheese toppers (photo © Elegant Affairs Caterers).

[2] Yellow gazpacho topped with Tostitos Scoops filled with salsa (photo © Chicken Fried Gourmet [now closed]).

[1] Yellow watermelon (photo © Good Eggs).

August 3rd is National Watermelon Day (July is National Watermelon Month).

A summer favorite, watermelon so refreshing because of its extremely high water content. (Like a glass of ice water, it’s even more refreshing when chilled.)

Watermelon is the juiciest of melons, about 92% water by weight. The water keeps the calorie count down: just 30 calories for 2/3 cup.

Watermelon is always welcome on the table, but you can add some excitement by seeking out yellow watermelon. It’s sweeter than the red variety.

Our tip: Check around for yellow watermelon. And while you’re add it, Why not mix yellow and red: on a platter of slices, in fruit salads and on skewers (how about with with ciliegine, small mozzarella balls?).

Yellow watermelons lack lycopene*, the compound (and antioxidant) that produces the red color in its sister watermelon, tomatoes and red grapefruit.
 
 
HOW DID RED WATERMELON BECOME YELLOW WATERMELON?

Most of us have only seen red watermelon. But beyond seeds-versus-seedless, there are more than 1,200 cultivars of watermelon, from pink flesh, orange flesh and white flesh to black rinds [source].

The wild melons are a bitter fruit with hard, pale-green flesh. Over millennia, farmers produced the tempting fruit we know today.

First cultivated in Africa some 5,000 years ago, watermelon seeds have been found in King Tut’s tomb as well as in the villages of common folk.

As the melons were bred for rosier color over millennia, the lycopene content increased, resulting in the rosy red color of our current watermelons.

Yellow watermelon is prized for its sweetness. The yellow flesh has a sweeter, honey-like flavor as compared to red-fleshed melons, but the nutritional benefits are largely the same (the red flesh has more lycopene).
 
 
Watermelon Salad With Feta & Thai Basil
Watermelon Salad With Mozzarella & Pine Nuts
The History Of Watermelon
How To Select A Watermelon

________________
*Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid (a type of antioxidant) found in papayas, red grapefruits, tomatoes, watermelons and some other red fruits and vegetables—although it is not present in strawberries or cherries. (What’s up with that, Mother Nature?) It’s also found in some pink foods, such as pink grapefruit and pink guava. Foods that are not red, such as asparagus and parsley, also contain lycopene. Diets rich in lycopene may help prevent the development of prostate cancer. It may also protect against cancers of the lungs, breasts and kidneys [source].

Since it’s National IPA Day, our last article was on this favorite style of craft beer.

Here’s something to serve with it, when you’re kicking back with a beer: a pasta salad with antipasto accents and a creamy pesto dip.

This super-easy tortellini recipe (photo #1) can be served as an antipasto/snack, as a light lunch with a side salad, or as a first course at dinner.

You can serve it at room temperature or straight from the fridge.

It’s easy to make pesto. But it’s even easier to buy a jar (photo #2).
 
 
RECIPE: TORTELLINI ANTIPASTO WITH PESTO DIP

Ingredients For 4-6

 
Garnishes

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the tortellini according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and cool.

2. MIX the pesto and cream cheese in a medium bowl until well combined. Smear the pesto mixture on a serving plate (see photo).

3. ARRANGE the tortellini around the pesto mixture for dipping. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with your favorite olives and antipasti.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF TORTELLINI

[1] Easy-to-make tortellini appetizer (both photos © DeLallo).

[2] It’s easy to make pesto, but even easier to buy a jar.