BB: Gazpacho

I've never really had an interest in trying gazpacho. Cold soup? Normally, I am all about soup, but HOT soup. Cold soup does not sound interesting to me at all. Reluctantly but in the spirit of Barefoot Bloggers, I made June's second recipe - gazpacho. And you know what? I love it. With the coarse chopped vegetables, it is more reminiscent of pico de gallo or salsa than the pureed smooth tomato soup I typically think of when I hear "gazpacho." I added some cilantro for flair, and while a toasty piece of crusty bread would go fabulously with this, I didn't pick any up at the store and have to settle for gazpacho, all by itself.



Gazpacho
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook on page 79
Chosen by Meryl of My Bit of Earth

* 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
* 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
* 4 plum tomatoes
* 1 red onion
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
* 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup good olive oil (I've been cutting back on this quite a bit)
* 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.