Chilled Gazpacho

 Printable Version

Somebody tell me:  why does any vacation now result in me coming home with a “muffin top” (aka pot belly)?  I’m technically a lean-ish person, but lately, yikes.   Even places with not great food, I channel Miss Piggy.  Thus, when we get back home to our “grind of choice” (as my friend, Cathi calls it), meatless meals like Gazpacho are the menu here for a while.

Larry will eat giant bowls of Gazpacho (no matter that he hasn’t added an ounce) and so will I.   It’s a fast food to make, use your food processor and literally buzz a giant portion in minutes.  But you need to make the recipe hours ahead; chill in a large bowl that is glass or Pyrex so the soup gets cold throughout.  The vegetables “crisp up” in the soup giving it the traditional texture of a very good Gazpacho.

I always refer to my copy of Make It Easy In Your Kitchen cookbook by Laurie Burrows Grad to start.  The book is out of print but you can still get used copies.  Her recipe is called Spanish Gazpacho; I tweak it to end up with this version:

Chilled Gazpacho

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in quarters
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can V-8 juice (5.5 oz)
• 3 Tbsp. red wine
• Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

Place cucumber, pepper, onion, garlic and V-8 juice in food processor and pulsate until finely chopped.  Pour into a large glass bowl and set aside.  Then, place tomatoes, red wine, olive oil, lemon juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce in food processor and pulse until blended.  Pour mixture into pureed vegetables in bowl and stir until blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.  Makes 4 to 6 servings (but eat all you want, it’s basically a salad).  Serve with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro, if desired.

Tagged as: blender, cold, frugal, gazpacho, light, mexican, pepper, processor, savory, soup, summer, tomato, V8