Tonight’s full moon carries an astrological mish-mash of energy. Resident foodie and psychic medium Michael Domitrovich suggests celebrating with a chilled golden gazpacho that’s bursting with contrasting, complimentary flavours.
The astrology of the last few weeks builds to a sweaty crescendo on Monday July 22 at 2:15 pm EDT, as the full moon in Aquarius lets out a much-needed rebel yell. I like to think of the full moon as a big-bellied mama who has been carrying around a very sensitive baby since the previous new moon. The baby picks up all sorts of influences in the womb and then, as the full moon peaks, she emerges screaming the lessons she’s learned. I’ve created this recipe for Golden Gazpacho with Lavender Lime Crema to capture the recent influences of the heavens, reflecting the essence of what we, and our full moon baby, have had to absorb.
We’ve had a lot of action in the water signs – Mercury retrograde in Cancer, and the grand water trine between the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Neptune and Mars. The retrograde has stirred up all sorts of information around our deepest feelings concerning safety, security, nurturance, and our private spaces. All this action in the water signs? Reason enough to make something liquid. Factor in the heat of midsummer, when I certainly don’t feel like turning on the stove, and Gazpacho seemed like a no brainer.
Since the Sun enters Leo at 11:56 am EDT, hours before the full moon, I figured something bright yellow would also be appropriately leonine. The Leo Sun, combined with Mercury stationing direct, may leave us with an intense need to express the emotional material stirred up in the recent weeks. Nevertheless, we may still perceive our emotional insights as too navel-gaze-y or selfish.
Enter the full moon in Aquarius…In this socially conscious sign, any personal expression of the moon’s accumulated emotional material should easily align with the concerns of the tribe. However, the Aquarian influence means what’s expressed might be unexpected, even shocking or chaotic. I’ve snuck some Aquarian unpredictability into this full moon feast with the heat from the habanero and the fresh/floral notes from the lavender-lime-crema. The crema also picks up a beautiful purplish hue, a colour associated with the high frequency insights of Aquarius.
Gettin’ witchy in the kitchen…
So how best to express your deeply subjective material in a way that benefits the greater good? With astrology like this, don’t over think it. Trust. Let your baby out. Smack her on the butt and let her cry. Don’t worry about what you say or how you say it. Stay cool, but be deep and passionate. Serve your Gazpacho and have faith that we’ve all turned up some good stuff in the last few weeks. Even if we aren’t totally clear about what that stuff is, we owe it to each other to let it out.
Golden Gazpacho with Lavender Lime Crema
2.5 pounds yellow tomatoes
2 yellow bell peppers, cut in half, stems and seeds removed
2 cups fresh pineapple
1 seedless cucumber
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 habañero pepper, halved and coarsely chopped
1 orange, juiced
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
For Lavender Lime Crema
½ cup sour cream or sour cream substitute
1 teaspoon honey
Juice and zest of ½ lime
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon lavender flowers
For Garnish
½ bell pepper (reserved)
½ cucumber (reserved)
½ cup pineapple (reserved)
1 avocado, diced
Pinch of sea salt
3 green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1. Coarsely chop the yellow tomatoes, 1 ½ of the yellow bell peppers (reserving ½ bell pepper for garnish) and 1 ½ cups of the pineapple (reserving ½ cup pineapple for garnish). Cut the cucumber in half and reserve one half (leaving the peel on) for garnish. Peel and coarsely chop the other half of the cucumber. Add to a big bowl with the chopped yellow tomatoes, bell pepper and pineapple
2. Add the shallot, garlic, cilantro, and ½ of the habanero pepper to the bowl along with the orange juice, champagne vinegar, olive oil and salt. Puree in batches in a blender, or using an immersion blender, until very smooth. Taste for seasoning. If needed add more salt, and, if you’re feeling rebellious, add the other half of the habanero and blend until smooth. Refrigerate the gazpacho until thoroughly chilled.
3. Meanwhile, make the Lavender crema by combining the sour cream, honey, lime zest, juice, and salt in a small bowl. Add the lavender flowers by crumbling them between your fingers to release their essential oils. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Next prepare your garnish – dice the reserved bell pepper, cucumber, and pineapple into uniform pieces (about ¼ inch square) and combine in a medium sized bowl. Peel and dice the avocado and add to the bowl. Season with a pinch of salt and mix gently. Chill until ready to serve.
5. To serve, divide the soup between bowls and garnish with a big spoonful of the bell pepper, cucumber, pineapple and avocado mixture right in the center. Drop a few spoonfuls of lavender crema in the soup around the garnish, then sprinkle pumpkin seeds and green onions all over.
