Tasty Thursdays: Gazpacho

When the weather turns hot, all I want to do is drink – water, mostly – and eat light, very light.

One of my favorite light meals is gazpacho, a cold soup that I was introduced to in Spain, that is made from fresh tomatoes and chopped raw vegetables.

It’s my summer meal lifesaver. This recipe that I found on spain-recipes.com comes closest to the way I make mine.

Traditional Gazpacho Soup

21 oz. of tomato (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic

2 onions (chopped)

2 red and green peppers

1 cucumber (optional)

7 tablespoons of oil

2 tablespoons of vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoon of water

Cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons fresh parsley to garnish

Preparation

In a big mortar mash cumin and garlic. In a plastic bowl, mix the chopped onion, chopped tomato, oil, vinegar, salt and the contents of the mortar. Pour half of the chopped mixture in a food processor (or blender) add very cold water and blend. Add salt and the remaining chopped mixture, mix and pour into a glass or other non-metal, non-reactive container. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (longer is better) to let the flavors blend. Garnish with parsley. Serve chilled.

Can be served with diced, toasted bread or avocado wedges.

Note: I prefer to use a mortar but a blender or food processor works as well. If you like it chunky like I do, set it to chop, not puree or liquefy.

Buen provecho!