Cooling Lemon Watermelon Smoothie...

Generally speaking I’m not crazy about watermelon, I never have been. I find the texture strange and off putting, and it always seems that the watermelons I get are either overly sweet, or completely lacking in flavor. However over the past month and a bit I’ve seen a massive explosion in the popularity of the watermelon. Creative and original watermelon recipes are popping up all over the place from watermelon salsa, to watermelon gazpacho, to grilled watermelon, and all that hype has got me feeling pretty inspired myself.

Here in Chicagoland the weather has been hot and humid, as is pretty typical for the region, so a nice cold drink is always appreciated. Since watermelons are so cooling and refreshing I decided the best use of my watermelon was to make some sort of drink out of it. This revitalizing little smoothie so exceeded my expectations that I’m starting to reconsider my previous stance on watermelon. My husband, who felt much the same as I about the pink fruit was also quite taken with this concoction. Though I must say I never would have thought of it at all had I not been flipping through a rack of those little recipe cards you sometimes see in chain grocery stores. You know the ones. Well one of the cards featured a watermelon drink lightly accented with lemon and lime. Which is a combination I’m not sure I would have thought of right off the bat, but trust me when I say the pairing of watermelon and lemon is magical. They compliment each other well, and you get a little extra refreshing kick from the lemon. Now, I thought this smoothie was a beautiful balance of sweet and lemony, but if it’s not to your taste feel free to add a packet of stevia, or more or less lemon depending on your tolerance for sour.

Cooling Lemon Watermelon Smoothie

2 ½ Cups cubed watermelon
2 Cups Strawberries halved (quartered if large)
½ C Lemon Sorbet
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1-2 Cups water (or as needed to bring to desired consistency)

- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and process for 30 seconds or until everything is smooth. Taste for sweet and sour and adjust as needed.

Enjoy while laying in the sun, with a book in your hand, and some reggae playing in the background.

*** Note - If you don’t have a Vitamix, or similar blender that truly pulverizes food you will want to use seedless watermelon. ***