What's for Dinner?: Gazpacho

One of my all time favorites in the summer time is Gazpacho Soup.  It’s perfect for hot summer days and with very little effort to make.  Summer time is the best time to have it as vine ripened tomatoes are plentiful this time of year at your local supermarket or farmer’s market. 

What I love about this recipe is that you can make it the day/night before as the flavors will all come together the next day, plus it’s served cold.  Gazpacho Soup, tossed salad and crusty French bread and that’s What’s for a lite Dinner! Add a little grilled chicken and you’ve got more of a heartier meal.

Gazpacho Soup:

3 Slices of French Bread, (or any old crusty bread you have) crust and all broken up into pieces, soaked in 1 cup water for 5 mins, then squeeze out the excess water and turn into the food processor with the remaining ingredients below.

In a large food processor place the following

• 1 Large English Cucumber roughly chopped (use garden if you have it)
• 1 Med Red Onion roughly chopped
• 1 Small Green or Red Pepper roughly chopped
• 2 Cloves of garlic (I ran out so I used jarred minced, about 2 Tsp)
• 1 Large Vine Ripen Tomato seeded and roughly chopped

Tip:  If you don’t have fresh tomatoes use a can of Petite Diced tomatoes drained

(I just happened to use only 1 large tomato and the rest canned). Reserve the juice of the canned tomatoes and set aside.

Directions: Puree all the vegetables and the soaked bread till smooth but still has some texture to it.  Remove to a large bowl and add the following:

• Take the reserved juice from the drained petite diced tomatoes and add enough V8 Juice to measure 2 Cups of liquid
• ½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ¼ Cup Sherry Wine Vinegar (use red wine if you don’t have sherry wine)
• 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1 Tablespoon of Kosher Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper
• Juice of ½ Lemon or 1 Tbsp lemon Juice
• Handful of chopped Flat Leaf Italian Parsley

Whisk that all together, pour into mixture, adjust seasonings and chill overnight.

Serve by the bowl with chopped English cucumbers and a dollop of sour cream

Hope you enjoy!