Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Watermelon Gazpacho and Appreciating Myself


Watermelon Gazpacho

Happy New Year my dah-lings! :)

I know, I know, we're almost a month into 2014. But I've been so busy that I barely noticed January zipping by. There's been *so much* to do on various fronts, not the least of which is my job at our local vegan restaurant. I've turned into one of those people who need to make task lists and spreadsheets to keep track of things. Sheesh!

I've come to realise that there's a sore need for me to compartmentalise my time and leave chunks of breathing space, just to relax and reset. It's also extremely important that I periodically reflect on what I've accomplished and achieved. Otherwise it feels like I'm only doing, doing, doing things with a lot more to do but not taking note of and appreciating how much is getting done.

Most people who know me, especially those who follow and participate in the "I am thankful..." posts on my Art by Susmitha page on Facebook, know that I'm a huge believer in the power of Gratitude and that I make it a point to consciously give thanks for all the wonderful things in my life. From now on, I'm adding the practice of Conscious Self-Appreciation to my daily, or at least weekly, habits too.

It goes something like this:

- I rode my bicycle all the way from home to work this weekend. I'm freaking awesome!
- I created a twitter account for Carrots last weekend and live-tweeted photographs throughout the Portuguese Vegan Cooking Demo by Chef Nandan. How very cool and hip of me. :P
- I changed sheets, vacuumed, did laundry, washed vessels, scrubbed the bathroom walls and generally got a bunch of household chores out of the way this week. Freaking super woman, eh?!
- I took the lead on organising and pulling off a nice candle light dinner event at the restaurant for a really sweet, young couple. Aww I'm such a sappy, romantic. ;)
- I got a jewellery order package mailed out. Yay me!
- I took a proper, full day off from work, without even checking my email or social media pages no matter how tempted I was to do so. Brownie points for self-care.
- I'm getting this blog post done right now. Yeah! I kickass. :D

This is so much fun! By the end of this short list I'm feeling super good about myself. I invite you to try it too. It'll be quite addictive.

Go ahead, leave a comment and proudly tell me all the things you feel awesome about accomplishing recently. :)

Meanwhile, here's another thing I'm proud of - a delicious, refereshing Watermelon Gazpacho!

I created it for our Vegan Bangalore monthly potluck last weekend. The gorgeous red-pink colour makes it look like I whizzed some rubies together in my mixie. :P It's so pretty, and yummy that I had to take pictures and share the recipe with you.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Apart from all the fruit and veggie chopping work, this cold soup is super easy to prepare. Here is how you do it:

- Blend together:
1 3/4 small Watermelons
1/4 Beet
1 Red Carrot (Gajad)
4 small Tomatoes
1 Ripe Chilli (green chilli that's turned red but hasn't dried yet)
8 cloves of Garlic
2 T Lime Juice
1 tsp Raspberry Wine Vinegar (Balsamic can be used instead)
2 T Nutritional Yeast (optional)
Salt (to taste)

- Stir in:
1/4 Watermelon - chopped
10 Strawberries - sliced
1 small Red Onion - chopped finely
Thyme - lightly crushed
Rosemary - lightly crushed
Pepper - crushed well

- Taste and adjust the flavours.
- Pour into a vessel/container, cover and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
- Slurp and Enjoy! :)

Have a wonderful 2014, filled with an abundance of gratitude, love, laughter and joy! I love you all. *hugs* :)

10 comments:

  1. wow super woman. great going. the last time i biked that much was in 9th std. i havent seen a bicylce since. hubbs has tried to bike a couple of times, bought bikes and promptly forgotten about them after using them for like 3 times. between the two f us we now know that we should raather find something else ;)

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    1. Today I bravely set out thinking I'd try riding both ways. I went to work fine but on the way back I could ride only half way. Then I got tired out so I folded the bike, popped it in an auto and had a jolly ride the rest of the way home. Haha Still, 11 kms in a day is something I can be happy about. :D

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  2. I love your practice of conscious self appreciation! We sometimes lose sight of what we actually achieve and only focus on stuff that we could not complete. Thanks for this! Definitely helped me more than you can imagine!!!

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  3. ohhhhh this gazpacho looks super tempting!!! Loved the write up and the photographs :)

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  4. Gazpacho looks so YUM!

    I always made chapatthis. A couple of weeks ago I started making mint parathas and methi parathas, and my son loves it so much! I'm so happy that I went out of my comfort zone, and started making yummy stuff for my family!

    Susmitha, you should try mint paratha from varevah chef. I used earth balance vegan butter instead of butter. http://www.vahrehvah.com/mint-paratha#.UunBPKYo7VI

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  5. Hey! So happy you’re back blogging! It’s crazy that 2014 has flown by so quickly…I feel the same, too, and January was a busy month esp with a dead laptop :( I love watermelon gazpacho, I made something similiar to that with fingerlime :)

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  6. Thank you and appreciating you!!
    Hi Susmitha,
    This is the first time I am seeing your blog and already fall in love with it :). Great super women!!!
    Keep going and you are super inspiration to many people like me.

    I have seen your cooking classes and how can I contact you to know your convenient time to arrange a class ?


    Thank you again for your super recipes

    Note: You are doing great in setting your blog so inviting and appealing as your recipes!

    Thank you,
    Gayathiri.

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    1. Hi Gayathiri, thanks for your kind words about my blog. :)

      If you click on the private cooking and baking classes link at the top of the right hand column, you'll be taken to the page with all the details about the various classes I offer and how you can schedule them. :)

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    2. You can write to me at customercare@carrots-India.com to schedule any of the classes on that list.

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    3. Thank you Sushmi. I will let you know.

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