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Louisa Shafia's Lucid Food received a glowing review from Rick Nichols at the [Philadelphia Inquirer] (http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20100715_Rick_NicholsA_sweetsavory_take_on_gazpacho.html?viewAll=y#ixzz0u8vPerj3 "Optional Title").

"...I'd never encountered a watermelon gazpacho until I opened Lucid Food, the recent "eco-conscious" cookbook by Louisa Shafia.

Shafia hangs her hat in New York these days, where she ran Lucid Food catering before turning to culinary teaching and food writing (One outlet? RachelRay.com). But she's a bona fide child of Philadelphia. She went to Germantown Friends, did time in the aisles of Weaver's Way Co-op working off the required co-op hours for her mother, Georgia. She even did a stint as an editor for NPR's Fresh Air, produced by WHYY.

Along the way she tried her hand at acting, and spent a semester in Madrid, then cooked at Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit, and Roxanne's, the fine-dining raw-food room in northern California. Thus, the recipe for her watermelon gazpacho: One part, hanging in Madrid; one part cheffing; and one part raw food.

It became a signature dish of her Lucid Food catering, which has catered to, among others, actor Isabella Rossellini, and the writing team from The Colbert Report"**

Makes 4 servings 6 cups coarsely chopped seeded watermelon 5 ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered 1 rounded tablespoon sweet smoked paprika 1 clove garlic, smashed 1/2 cup whole or slivered almonds, toasted 1/4 cup sweet white or red onion, finely diced, plus more for garnish 1 cucumber, seeded and diced, plus some for garnis 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar 1 teaspoon chipotle sauce (or a few dashes of Tabasco) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt, to taste

Blend 2 cups of the watermelon in a blender until liquid. Add the rest of the watermelon, the tomatoes, paprika, garlic, almonds, onion, cucumber, balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar, and chipotle sauce and blend until smooth. Transfer the soup to a bowl and taste and season with salt. Chill for an hour before serving. Garnish with a spoonful of the onion and cucumber dice.

Adapted from [Lucid Food] (http://www.lucidfood.com/ "Optional Title").