Cold Melon Soup (a medley of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe)

Presenting a trio of melons in a luscious base, this is a perfect dessert soup to make in midsummer, when melons are at their sweetest. This cold melon soup featuring watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe makes a refreshing finale to a meal of spicy foods or grilled vegetables and plant-based proteins.

In Tassajara Cooking, Edward Espe Brown praised fruits as “a deceptively potent food: refreshing, invigorating, cleansing.” This chilled fruit soup is the very essence of this thought.

In praise of seasonal fruit in sweet or savory dishes

In many ethnic cuisines, fruit is served with the main part of the meal, rather than as an afterthought or dessert. Interspersing bites of fruit with foods of contrasting tastes, the sweet flavors do indeed refresh and cleanse the palate. 

Try serving fruit with dinner more often—smoothies with pizza, strips of mango with spicy bean dishes, apples and pears in salads. Or a soup like this one that can be a first course or a palate cleanser afterward. Now that is invigorating.

Choose the best ripe fruits in season. Imports help foster variety, but there’s nothing like a strawberry in June, melons in July and August, and a pear in December. That way, little embellishment is needed to highlight a fruit’s luscious gifts of flavor and scent.

Serving ideas for cold melon soup

• Serve this summery soup as a palate refresher after Spicy Peanut Noodles with Zucchini and Tomatoes or Cool Cucumber and Kale Salad with Hot and Spicy Tofu.
• Serve side-by-side with The Ultimate Easy Vegan Cuban Sandwich or Easy Vegan Gyros.
• Consult our How to Grill Vegetables guide for ideas on putting together a vegan barbecue — this soup is a fantastic finale for grilled meals.

Why I love this recipe (and hope you will, too)

• It makes great use of this trio of summer melons —
  cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew
• I’m not always a big fruit eater, so this soup is a perfect incentive
• It’s a fantastic first or last course for a summer company meals
• A warm-weather gem, it needs no cooking and is super refreshing

Recipe is adapted from Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, BittersweetBlog.com.

Explore more …

• 37+ Naturally Vegan Cold Soup Recipes
• Cold Strawberry Soup
• Cold Berry Soup (a medley)
• Fresh Blueberry Vanilla Soup

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Yield: 6

Cold Melon Soup

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This cold melon soup featuring watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe makes a refreshing finale to a meal of spicy foods or grilled vegetables and plant-based proteins.

Prep Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups seedless watermelon, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 cups honeydew melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 medium very ripe, lush cantaloupe, peeled seeded and cut into large chunks
• 1 pint vanilla vegan ice cream
• 2 cups orange juice, fresh or bottled
• Blueberries for garnish
• Mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

1. To make part of this soup ahead of time, prepare the watermelon and honeydew as directed, combine in a mixing bowl, then cover and refrigerate. Place the cantaloupe chunks in a separate container. Cover and chill for at least an hour or even overnight.
2. Just before serving, combine the cantaloupe, ice cream, and orange juice in a blender and process until smoothly pureed. 
3. Divide among 6 serving bowls. Place approximately 1 cup of the watermelon and honeydew mixture in each. Scatter some blueberries over the top of each serving and garnish with several mint leaves.

See lots more vegan soups & stews.