Focus on food: August 01, 2004

Fresh Garden Vegetables = Gazpacho...

Gazpacho is, to our way of thinking, the perfect summer soup. Garden fresh vegetables combine to create a healthy hearty summer soup with just enough zing to make it interesting.

We have borrowed a recipe from the Global Gourmet website. This site is a good source for food recipes, although you can certainly poke around and find your own recipe in books or on other web sites.

Red Gazpacho
Serves 4 - 6

This full-bodied version of contemporary gazpacho is best at the peak of harvest, when all of the vegetables are dazzlingly ripe. And on a hot day, there is nothing more refreshing.

4 or 5 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 serrano pepper, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemon cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 ripe but slightly firm avocado, peeled and diced
4 cups light beef stock or chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons medium-acid red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsely
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
kosher salt and black pepper in a mill
1/2 cup best-quality extra-virgin olive oil
Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Add the stock, lemon juice and vinegar and stir very briefly. Stir in the fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill the soup for at least one hour before serving. Remove from the refrigerator, stir, let rest for 15 minutes and then pour the olive oil over the soup and serve.