Summer has never been my favorite season of the year. Growing up it was always too hot and sticky, and when you stick a very pale Irish girl on the beach for ‘beach camp’ it usually ends in sunburns and bug bites. Needless to say now I tend to spend most of my summer days lathered in SPF 30 trying to hide from the sun.
But summer does have its perks, even for a pale girl thanks to all of the amazing fresh produce that I was never really aware of as a kid. Especially living up in Maine I’ve come to appreciate how much the seasons can really impact the produce that’s available. There are so many small family-owned farms up here with farm stands scattered throughout the back roads which is such a big contrast from New York.
As the summer produce comes into season again and the farm stands start popping up I always find myself wanting to make gazpacho. This is a recipe that I posted on my last blog back in 2011, and to this day my best friend Kat will still call me sometimes to tell me she’s craving my gazpacho.
This is a super simple recipe to make, and it’s so delicious when you use fresh ingredients in the summer! And the best part? You don’t need any heat at all. So when it’s 85 degrees out and the humidity is at 95% this recipe will be your best friend. In fact, you should probably give it a shot this weekend since I think that’s supposed to be the forecast!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Here’s what you’ll need (adapted from here):
1 ½ cucumbers
2 red bell peppers
4 plum tomatoes
¾ red onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 cups of tomato juice
1 jalapeno
1 green pepper
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
¾ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno, and onion so that each piece is about ½ inch in size.
One at a time put each vegetable into a food processor and chop them. Make sure that the pieces end up being about the same size, but you don’t want to overprocess the vegetables and make them into a paste.
After processing each vegetable put it into a large bowl and when all of the vegetables have been processed add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and peppers. Stir together and let chill before serving.
The longer you let the ingredients mix together the more unified the flavors become! Next time you’re in the middle of a heatwave and can’t even think about turning your stovetop on to make something for dinner, try this gazpacho. You won’t regret it!
Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno, and onion so that each piece is about ½ inch in size. One at a time put each vegetable into a food processor and chop them. Make sure that the pieces end up being about the same size, but you don’t want to overprocess the vegetables and make them into a paste.
After processing each vegetable put it into a large bowl and when all of the vegetables have been processed add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and peppers. Stir together and let chill before serving.
The longer you let the ingredients mix together the more unified the flavors become! Next time you’re in the middle of a heatwave and can’t even think about turning your stovetop on to make something for dinner, try this gazpacho. You won’t regret it!