I have to admit, lights out summer gazpacho is a funny name for a recipe. It’s definitely not the original name I came up with. However, 10 minutes after I finished photographing this beautiful soup, I put it in the refrigerator, went upstairs to publish this post and the lights went out in my house! The computer shut down and my post was lost! Now I worried, what would happen to my delicious gazpacho? I ran downstairs and poured myself a bowl. Topped with some avocado, cucumber and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, this cool refreshing soup took my mind off how hot my house was! It was the perfect dinner.

Gazpacho is a cold Spanish soup, made with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions. It takes less than 30 minutes to put it all together and only gets better with age. There aren’t too many soups you can say that about. Plus, I don’t know about you, but among the many staples I have in my kitchen, are onions, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and tomato juice. With these few ingredients you are always ready for a Bloody Mary (just add vodka), a great Greek salad, Israeli salad, and of course this quick, easy and delicious gazpacho. In this recipe, I used Roma tomatoes, a.k.a. plum tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes but you can substitute any kind of tomato. Heirloom would be a great choice, which I know can be expensive but worth the flavor they add, tomatoes on the vine, or a mixture of several varieties. During the summer, you can find sweet and delicious Vidalia onions* – I use them for everything and they are great in this cold soup! I also like the large sweet Spanish onions, which are appropriate for this Spanish soup.

If you are lucky enough to live in an area where you can go to a farmer’s market for ingredients, or straight to the farm, you should take advantage of that. There is nothing like fresh farm grown fruits and vegetables. They often have their own variety of tomatoes and when fresh picked enhance anything you cook or bake. I hope you try this easy and refreshing gazpacho. It’s a quick and easy light lunch or dinner along side salad or quiche. Enjoy!

ingredients
4 plum tomatoes
1 pint red teardrop tomatoes
2 bell peppers (any combination of red, yellow or orange)
1 English (aka hot house cucumber) cut in 1/2 and seeded
1 sweet onion cut into large pieces (if vidalia onions are in season, use them!)
4 cups low sodium tomato juice (I use Trader Joe’s low sodium Garden Patch)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
3 to 4 cloves of garlic minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
hot sauce (optional)
garnishes: avocado, croutons or oyster crackers, finely diced cucumber, sliced olives, feta cheese or grilled fresh corn.

recipe makes 6 to 8 servings

 

directions:
Cut the tomatoes, peppers and onions into approximately 1″ pieces. Slice and take the seeds out of the cucumber. Mince the garlic and add to the onion. Put the vegetables into the food processor one at a time and pulse until it’s coarsely chopped. Don’t process it too fine. Then after you process each vegetable, add it to a large bowl or pot.

Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix well and chill before serving. You can top it with any of the garnishes suggested or come up with one of your own.

*In Georgia they say people eat them like they would a peach as they are so sweet. Two fun little facts: they are Georgia’s official state vegetable – and I’m a huge fan!