Garden Gazpacho

Fresh summer produce always makes my mouth water. The smell, taste, and colors just scream “I’m delicious!”. Since almost everything in my garden and at the market has been so perfect this season, I really haven’t wanted to mess with it at all. I mean, if its not broke, why fix it. Because of that mentality, I’ve been chowing down on tons of raw fruits and veggies lately. What are some of those raw recipes you ask? Well here’s a great one! Welcome to the world of gazpacho; a beautiful mix of garden fresh vegetables, swimming in a lightly spiced tomato broth. Basically all you need to know is this – it’s fresh, tomato based, and chilled. That’s right, cold soup. Delicious cold soup.

Gazpacho originates from Spain but can be found all over the world these days. In fact, my first experience with this dish is from one of my dad’s favorite diners in central NJ….and not going to lie, when I was a little kid, I thought it was stupid to have a cold soup haha. Little did I know how great it is! Gazpacho bursts with so much flavor. Some people like to add bread to thicken it, but I like to keep it pure and simple so each veggie is highlighted in a healthy way. Since my coworker kept mentioning gazpacho and I have all the main ingredients growing in my garden, I figured it was about time I shared my recipe for garden fresh gazpacho!

In short – gazpacho is a fresh freakin’ soup, especially when using veggies grown in your own garden. Its cool, refreshing, and oh so tasty….so make it this weekend!

3 cups tomato juice

3 tomatoes

1 red onion

1 cucumber

2 red bell peppers

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

4 garlic cloves

1-2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Dice half of the veggies, reserve. Stick the other half in a food processor with the garlic cloves and pulse until finely chopped.

Add to a large bowl. Put in hot sauce, oil, and salt/pepper.

Chill and then serve with crusty bread!

Enjoy!