Summer Options

Are you like me?  You love all the fresh fruit and veg of summer?  I love it, I do.  But sometimes, I get a little tired of salad.

Solution?  Soup!

But, M, you say, it's far too hot for soup!  And right you are!  It's FAR too hot for soup, we are melting melting over here, in fact, if you walk outside, it is much like breathing soup!

But this is not a hot soup.  It is a cold soup.  And it is delicious.

I had never actually had Gazpacho before, but it's lovely.  I found a super easy recipe in Real Simple and made only a few modifications, and we all loved it so much I thought I'd share.  This one goes out to all my friends with green thumbs who have an abundance of tomatoes and cukes this time of year!

Gazpacho  (adapted from Real Simple)

2 pounds ripe tomatoes--chunked up and tossed into a blender
1 red bell pepper chunked up, deseeded and tossed into the blender
1 small onion chunked up and tossed into the blender

(are you sensing a theme here?)

1 clove of garlic tossed into the blender
1/2 English cucumber chunked up and tossed into a blender
1/4 cup olive oil  poured into the blender
2 tsp. vinegar poured into the blender
2 Tbsp. parsley tossed into the blender

Whiz the whole mess in the blender until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Voila.

Here's what we did differently:  we cooked the pepper and onion because raw pepper and onion does not agree well with my husband.  We added 2 Tbsp instead of 2 tsp of vinegar and the recipe called for red wine vinegar and we used apple cider and it was just fine.  It blends up thick and lovely so we bought some crusty bread and scooped it up with that.  It was light, it was refreshing and a great way to get your veggies without having the same salad.

Next time I think I'll try adding some fresh basil or rosemary...I like parsley fine, but with the pepper, onion and garlic, I think the soup can hold its own against a stronger herb.  Also, I think it would be lovely topped with a small amount of pesto.  I'd also like to experiment with tossing it with some cold pasta...since it's so thick it might work.

Now go forth and enjoy the summer's tomatoes and cukes.