Watermelon Gazpacho

We have a huge watermelon in the fridge so I decided to make something with watermelon today.  I made up a recipe instead of looking for one and made the mistake of putting in 2 cloves of garlic.  It had a huge kick, even for me, so I changed the recipe to one clove.  Also note that this recipe requires a blender.


Watermelon Gazpacho
Prep Time: 15-20 min
Cooking Time: 0 min

Ingredients:
Garlic (1 clove/ 1/2 tsp powdered)
Celery (1 stalk)
Sweet onions (3/4 cup chopped)
Cilantro (3 or 4 sprigs), optional
Lime juice (1/2 lime/ 1 tbsp)
Watermelon, seedless
Salt

1. Chop up the garlic, celery, onions, and cilantro.  Don't worry about getting them into even pieces; they're going to get ground up in the blender, but it goes a lot more smoothly if the pieces are smaller.  Run the blender on low to chop up the pieces some more.
2. Cut the watermelon up and toss it in the blender with the lime juice and a sprinkle or two of salt.  Blend until it's mostly liquid.

Tips:
-I know I don't have an amount written for the watermelon.  The one I used was about 8" in diameter and I cut 3 slices about 1" thick.  I suggest putting it in a little at a time until it's as watermelon-y as you want.

-The reason you put the watermelon in after the other ingredients is that watermelon is much softer so it takes much less time to blend.  Putting it in after everything else is mostly chopped leaves you a little bit of texture.
-I put mine in the fridge for an hour or so after making it to chill it, but you don't have to.
-Types of onions: The grocery store labels some onions as "sweet yellow".  Look for Vidalia or 10/15 on the sticker if there isn't a sign.

Lower-Latitude Noodles (and a quick intro)

A quick intro: My name is Sarah, I grew up in Austin, and I generally like my food spicy.  The ingredients I always have in my cabinets are garlic (fresh and powdered), red pepper flakes, cayenne, limes, cilantro, serrano peppers, comino (cumin), and olive oil.  I don't measure or time stuff very carefully when I cook and I'm pretty sure I'd have died from salmonella by this point if I cooked meat.  I hate doing dishes so I do one pot meals whenever possible.  In other words, if you're lazy, cheap, and have better things to do than spend an entire afternoon prepping a meal but don't like eating out of a can you're gonna like my blog, even if you're an omnivore.

I'll start with a really simple recipe for my first post.
I made this up when my fridge was running a little empty since all this stuff's in my kitchen all the time.  I call it Lower-Latitude Noodles because all the seasonings are stuff I keep on hand for Mexican food but the rice noodles and peanuts make it kind of Asian.

Prep time: 1 min
Cooking time: about 5 mins

Ingredients:
Rice noodles (a bowlful of cooked noodles)
Chili Powder (1/2 tbsp)
Garlic powder (2 tsp)
Cilantro (3 or 4 sprigs)
Lime juice (1 tbsp/ half a lime)
Peanuts (handful)

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
2. Chop up the cilantro.  Add it, the chilli powder, garlic, lime juice, and peanuts to the noodles.  Stir and eat.

Tips:
NEVER use dried cilantro; it tastes like nothing.  Fresh cilantro is cheap and spending 30 seconds to chop it is well worth the time.
Juicing a lime: Roll it on its side with a little bit of pressure to soften it and make it easier to juice.  Stick a fork in it and rotate to break up the insides.  It's a lot faster and gets more juice out than just squeezing with your hand.