Gazpacho

With the tomatoes ripening like gangbusters, and the heat and humidity making us all miserable, I sought out a recipe for a nice, cool summer meal: gazpacho. Though it has many intraregional variations, it's basically a Mediterranian cold soup made of tomatoes and all manner of late summer garden bounty. While I was researching a bit of history on the dish, I was surprised that it traditionally has bread ground up and blended into the soup. I don't think I've ever had it that way and the recipe I tried didn't call for that ingredient. Glad I am, because Soppy Bread never sounds appealing to me. I much prefer the liquid salad idea that I know gazpacho to be.

Here's the recipe:

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1-2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T chopped fresh chives
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T freshly sqeezed lemon juice
2 T sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco to taste
1 t. Worchestershire sauce (omit for vegetarian)
4 c. tomato juice

Combine all ingredients, blend slightly to desired consistency. Place in non-metal, non-reactive storage contatiner. Cover and chill. Serve cold.

I realized that of all the produce in the recipe, I only DIDN'T have celery in my garden. In fact, I left it out of my soup altogether, since I don't enter the produce aisle in the summertime. It sure hit the spot for me.