It's Gazpacho Time

A few things collided for me this weekend – a need to keep busy, a desire to go to town with my chef’s knife, and a hankering for some fresh produce. The solution? Gazpacho. Or as B likes to quote Lisa Simpson, “tomato soup served ice cold.”

I love gazpacho in the summertime. You get a nice serving (or two) of vegetables, it’s light, refreshing and full of flavor, and it’s just so fun to make. I developed my recipe a few years ago after feeling like my cookbook recipes didn’t deliver the same quality gazpacho that I would get in a restaurant – not even close. So I did my homework, researched various cookbooks and websites and pulled together my own recipe that makes me pretty damn proud.

And today is your lucky day. Because I’m going to share my gazpacho recipe with you. (You’re welcome.)

Beth's Best Gazpacho

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 5 scallions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 1/2 cups navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 6 T red wine vinegar
• 46 oz. tomato juice
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 T minced fresh parsley
• 1 T minced fresh basil
• 1/2 T minced fresh oregano
• 1/4 t salt 

In a 4 quart serving bowl, combine cucumber, bell pepper, scallions, garlic, tomatoes, celery, navy beans, olive oil, vinegar and tomato juice. Season with cumin, parsley, basil, oregano and salt. Adjust salt to taste, if desired. Using an immersion blender, puree approx. 1/2 of the mixture (more or less depending on your personal taste). Stir. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Serve cold.

Every time I make gazpacho, I tinker with the ingredients. This time, I made the following adjustments:

• Used canned whole tomatoes with puree in place of the tomato juice. I had to add some extra salt since the canned tomatoes do not have as much salt as the juice. But the canned whole tomatoes did increase the fresh flavor of the dish.
• Added some chopped red onion. I had some on hand, and wanted to give the dish a little more kick – more for B than for me, but it worked.
• Added some fresh ground pepper. Like the red onion, it gave it a little extra kick while increasing the basic seasoning of the dish.
• Excluded the diced tomatoes. In all honesty, I just forgot them. It wasn’t until I went to write this blog that I realized that. Oh well. Oops. Worse things have happened.
• Used 2 medium Italian peppers in place of the green bell pepper. I just like Italian peppers better. I don’t know why I used green bell pepper in the recipe to begin with.

It came out pretty good, despite the lack of tomatoes (perhaps the canned tomatoes instead of the juice made up for that a bit). The navy beans add some protein and fiber and make it a more filling lunch option. When serving, I like to add a dollop of reduced fat sour cream, a fresh herb garnish (chopped parsley, basil or chives are best) and a wedge of lime. A squeeze of lime adds some brightness to the fresh flavor.

And the best part is that I can puree the hell out of what’s left after my FOURTH root canal tomorrow and drink it through a straw since I’ll have a mouth full of stitches. 

Enjoy.