It's June, and I don't care what the weather is outside, it's officially summer as far as I'm concerned. Which in my house means it's chilled soup time.
I'm not a fan of all chilled soups--vichysoisse just doesn't do it for me (cold creamy potatoes? No thanks.) and borscht is just too... purple. But I absolutely love gazpacho. It's like eating a big bowl of salsa. But better.
Okay, maybe not a ringing endorsement, but if you've never had gazpacho, this is a great easy recipe to try. You don't need any fancy knife skills and if you have a food processor, the whole thing won't take more than a few minutes to put together. It's cold, it's refreshing... it just screams summer.
Serve with crumbled tortilla chips on top, or a bowl of chips on the side for the kids. Get them dunking, and they might not even notice they're eating gazpacho.
Chunky Gazpacho
Serves 6
6 cups diced tomatoes (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
1 seedless cucumber, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups tomato or vegetable juice
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper
Combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and peppers in a large
bowl. Transfer just over half of the mixture to a food processor and puree
until smooth. Return to bowl and stir to combine. Add tomato juice, cilantro,
and vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready
to serve.
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