Take a trip to the Mediterranean (or if you’re sitting on a balcony in West Seattle) on a warm Summer night with a healthy and refreshing bowl of chilly gazpacho soup.
Packed with fresh veggies and easy to make, it’s a great warm-weather companion to some simply grilled shrimp or perhaps a comforting grilled cheese Sammy.
And don’t be afraid to drizzle some vodka into a glass with any leftovers the next morning. A Bloody Mary never tasted so good for you.
6 large, ripe tomatoes
1 bell pepper of any color, roughly chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 Persian cucumber, chopped
Garlic salt
Mucho pepper
Celery salt
Several glugs of worstchishire
Couple glugs balsamic vinegar
Drizzle of olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Dollop of horseradish (optional)
Couple drops Tabasco (also optional and can be left to the slurped when served).
Flash boil the tomatoes to soften and get the skin off. To do so, cut a shallow “X” into the bottom of the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and dunk the fellas for as long as it takes to see that carved “X” to open up and make for easy peeling. About a minute.
Strain the toms and put out the fire with a cold water fury. Let cool.
Meanwhile, cut the other veggie ingredients and start to torture in a large cuis. Some gazpacho dignitaries claim that tomato or Clamato juice needs to be added to bolster the liquidity. However, the juice from the fresh tom will work more than adequately to create the viscosity balance you want.
So, when the toms have cooled enough, cut off the stem belly button and strip ‘em bare from the “X” mark. Lazily chop just to make them fit into the cuis and feed in batches to pulse until it starts to resemble a soup.
Now start playing with the wet and dry labor ingredients until you reach your perfect consistency and salt/spice level.
