But this is a bit much:

This is a quick treat for these hot summer days:

1/4 medium chilled watermelon
1 peeled and segmented lemon
4 cubes of ice
1 tsp. cherry baking extract* (see notes below)

Remove seeds from watermelon and chop into chunks. Crush ice and lemon together, may need to add a bit of water. Add the chunks of watermelon a bit at a time as well as the cherry extract and blend till the consistency of a smoothie. Garnish with lime wedge or mint sprig if desired.

*Variations: If you prefer, you could substitute vanilla or orange extract in place of the cherry. I’ve never tried it like that, so if you decide to experiment, please let me know how it tastes.

IMPORTANT: NEVER use imitation vanilla. It may taste fine, but one of its main ingredients is Propylene Glycol, aka car antifreeze! While it may not be as toxic as other forms of antifreeze, why would you put this in your body? Also, Propylene Glycol is irresistible to pets, but it also kills them. So put pure vanilla in your food, and throw out the imitation vanilla garbage.

When you’ve been outside in the 108° heat, this soup is a great addition to a summer lunch.

Ingredients:
1 cantaloupe
2 cups orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation: Personally, I always view cantaloupe or any other melon like I view raw meat and try to treat it as such in the kitchen. I posted my melon handling techniques in an earlier post, so I won’t repeat myself too much except to say that I think it’s a good idea to handle any melon with a surgical glove. Of course, I wash everything thoroughly, but even so, I never put the outer shell on the same cutting board as the inside. With this recipe, it would probably be best to cut it in half, then remove the seeds, and scoop out the “meat” with an ice cream scoop or a large spoon. Cube the cantaloupe, and place it and 1/2 cup orange juice into the blender, and processing till smooth. Transfer to large bowl, then stir in remaining orange juice, cinnamon and lime juice, cinnamon, and remaining orange juice. Garnish with mint if desired. The “secret” to making this soup taste great is to make sure it is refrigerated for at least one hour. You may be tempted, but nooooo taking it out ahead of time and cheating.

This recipe serves 6 with 70 calories per serving

Total Fat: 0.4g
Sodium: 9mg
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Protein: 1.4g

Please note, there are sugars in the orange juice, so it’s probably not a good idea to have this for dinner. But I think it’s definitely a good alternative to having ice cream or other cold and fattening foods. Also, some people like to add a bit of spoonful or two of yogurt while blending to make it creamy, but I have never tried that.