Watermelon Mint Sorbet

"It's been a gloomy, rainy June," said Tim the other night. His first really gloomy, rainy June in Washington—the last four Junes since he moved here have been so sunny and warm that he's never believed me that gloomy and rainy are usually synonymous with June, and summer doesn't start until July 5.

I'm ready for the sun to come back now. So I'm trying to lure it back with summery things like this watermelon mint sorbet. I don't have an ice cream maker, but I recently discovered that's so not necessary when you start with frozen bananas. Has anyone else tried one-ingredient banana ice cream? Its worth a try if only to watch the transformation of chunky bananas into smooth and creamy stuff that looks exactly like ice cream, and then to eat it and try to convince your mouth that yes, this is only banana. I found it so rich and sweet that I could hardly finish a one-banana serving. Weird. But it's a perfect base for less creamy fruits like watermelon, and jazzed up with some fresh mint and lime juice, this sorbet tastes just as good on a dreary summer evening as a hot one. 

Watermelon Mint Sorbet

Makes 4-6 servings 

2 pounds de-rinded watermelon (this was a quarter of a giant watermelon for me)

2 bananas, sliced thin

1/2 cup chopped mint

3 tablespoons lime juice 

Slice the watermelon 1/4/-inch thick and cut the slices into small pieces. Line two sheet pans with plastic wrap and lay watermelon and bananas out in a single layer. Cover them with plastic wrap and freeze them for 3 hours, or overnight (the watermelon freezes solid in an hour or less, but I found the bananas needed longer than that). 

In an 8-cup food processor, blend half the frozen watermelon and half the frozen bananas with the lime juice and mint until smooth and sorbet-like, about 4-5 minutes. Add the remaining watermelon and bananas in small amounts and keep blending until super smooth, another 4-5 minutes. 

Mine was the consistency of soft serve at this point. You can return the sorbet to the freezer to harden up again, or eat it right away. 

Mint flecks: I don't really mind the mint flecks, but I think starting by blending just the lime juice and chopped mint in the bottom of the food processor, then adding half the fruit, would get the mint smaller or even make it disappear.