Easy Gazpacho

It's HOT. Like drippy, humid, almost awful HOT. But it's Summer. And because that's so much better than Winter on every level, I'm willing to put up with it. And since salads and cold foods are what we're craving on days like this, I just made a big batch of gazpacho. The recipe is one I've adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe that's been around for a while. If you're interested in seeing where Ina and I digress, her original recipe is here.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

·       1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled

·       2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded

·       4 plum tomatoes

·       1 red onion

·       3 garlic cloves, minced

·       23 ounces Spicy V8 juice (3 cups)

·       1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

·       Juice of ½ lemon

·       Minced cilantro

·       1/4 cup good olive oil

·       Minced cilantro

·       1/2 tablespoon kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Garnish

·      Sour cream (optional)

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions. Put each vegetable (one at a time!) into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped, then put into large bowl before adding next ingredient. Do not over process!

Stir everything together and then puree about 1/2 of the chopped veggies in the food processor. Add the V8, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil to the processor and process long enough to blend, then pour it over the rest of the chopped veggies and mix all together. Add minced cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. Lasts 3-4 days in the fridge.

Note: If you like a very thick, chunky soup, skip the puree step and just stir the juices, vinegar and olive oil into the processed veggies.

Before serving, garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream.