End of Summer Cold Gazpacho -or- Pasta Sauce

2# mixed cherry or grape tomatoes

6 mini peppers or 1 green bell pepper

4 mini English cucumbers

5 lg. cloves garlic

2 med. carrots

6 green onions

3/4c Spanish* EVOO

3/4c white wine vinegar

1t sugar

2t garlic salt

1t lemon pepper

1/2t cayenne pepper 

2-3t fresh ground black pepper

5 big leaves of fresh Genovese basil

Blend all of this, a little at a time, then whisk together. If you like it with more texture, you could use a food processor to keep it a little chunkier. 

Today, as I was making this, I remembered I bought some fresh spinach and cheese ravioli the other day at Costco. That sounded really good on this cool evening!

So, instead of just having a bowl of fresh, cold gazpacho, I decided to heat a little over the simmered pasta, topped with grated Manchego (sheep's milk cheese) and a little fresh, chopped, basil. Oh my. . .Now this will be my dual purpose go-to for an interesting Spanish-Portugese cold summer soup, or heated as a pasta sauce. Can't go wrong either way!

Just follow your current craving! . .Lin

*or any good quality extra virgin olive oil from ONE country - not multiple sources

GazSalGuac — Update!

After the first day, I decided I was done with this, in its original form.  I used my immersion blender to change the texture completely, added a big splash of white balsamic vinegar - probably 1/3c, 1t dry dill, 1 big crushed garlic clove, a little more salt and pepper, and a ripe avocado and blended it all again until almost smooth.  Top with dollops of sour cream, some Little's Chili Lime Seasoning, and finely chopped cilantro, parsley, green onion tops, or a little more dry dill.

Gazpacho! A spicy cold soup.

Changing a 'finished' product sometimes makes it better! . . Lin

GazSalGuac

Not trying to be cutsie with the name of this recipe, but this is really hard to categorize. Not quite gazpacho, salsa or guacamole. . .more a first cousin to all three! A bowl of this, by any name, however, is pure deliciousness! Tonight, after a day spent watching the Inauguration of our 46th United States President. . .it's a celebratory-victory dinner for me, with a big piece of Norwegian crispbread! Garnished with the avocado slices and some sliced kalamata olives. Mmmm 😋 So good! 

I wasn't planning to cook or post today, but I went into the kitchen during a break in the activity in DC, and saw a sad bunch of droopy cilantro. No way was I going to throw it out, so, this happened!

It's pretty clear from the pictures what ingredients were used. Some hand chopped-sliced, others finely chopped or pulverized - think  garlic - in my chopper. I used the zest and juice of one lemon, 1/2c EVOO and the only change was, at the end, it was needing more cucumber. I added 2 more, all rough-peeled, for a total of 4. A good shake of salt, almost 1t of my favorite chili-lime seasoning, and 2t sugar pulled it all together.

Did I mention how good this is? I had to put it away after the second bowl so I'd stop! . . . Lin

Preparing Vegetables for Soup and Gazpacho

• tomatoes
• any color bell peppers
• 5 giant garlic cloves

Bring 2½ quarts of water to a rolling boil. Fill a big bowl of ice then add water. Drop the tomatoes, a couple at a time, into the boiling water for 10-12 seconds - stirring.

Immediately scoop them out with a slotted spoon and into the ice water. Stir and then leave them for several minutes to keep the flesh from cooking. Do this with the garlic, for the same amount of time and the whole peppers too, but the peppers will take about a minute or longer in the boiling water, to loosen their skins. Follow by immersing them in ice water also. Once the tomatoes and garlic are peeled, the peppers peeled and seeded, chop them well, into a big bowl. Add the other chopped, fresh ingredients. Celery, onions and green onion.

Drizzle with 2-3T EVOO and whatever seasonings will be best for your future recipes. I had 12 cups to freeze in 2c amounts, in each of 6 quart size bags.

Gazpacho

To what's left in the bowl, I added two 5-inch pickling cucumbers and blended it well to make a quart of fresh Gazpacho. I pour some in a bowl and heat it for 30 seconds in the microwave, just to take the chill off, then top with a dab of sour cream, a sprinkle of dill, avocado slices, and serve it with whole grain crisp bread.  

It is SO good! . .Lin

Clean GREEN Gazpacho

Today is Saturday. . .It's 4 days out from my colonoscopy on Wednesday.  Ahhh, fun times, right?  I see in looking at the new and improved instructions, since my last one, there are way more dietary restrictions that begin tomorrow.  Mainly, adhering to a low-fiber diet. 😒 I'm a huge fan of vegetables, which hardly fall into that low-fiber category.  So. . .I decided to do a day-4-and-counting fiber splurge which I'm hoping I won't regret. 🥒 🍅 🌱 😐 🌿 🥦 🥕

For this interesting recipe of green gloppiness, which tastes a little like it came from the bottom of a lawnmower. . .combine the following in a blender.

4 leaves of purple cabbage

2 pickling cucumbers

2 celery ribs and tops

1 sm. broccoli crown

a big handful of kale

1 lg. Roma tomato

lots of cilantro

8 oz. water

1-2t Rosemary Seasoning *

- {1 lg. carrot - optional

- {1 lg. garlic clove - optional

Heat just a little, top with croutons, or serve cold. . .Lin

Gazpacho

13oz. crushed tomatoes
~ or 3-4 fresh ripe tomatoes ~

1T coriander (cilantro) chutney

3-4c chopped onion, carrot, celery

1 lg. clove of garlic

1c mild Ajvar sauce

2c diced cucumbers

2T balsamic vinegar

⅓c extra virgin olive oil

½-1t sugar

½t Rosemary Seasoning *

½t Little's Chili Lime Seasoning

I woke up at 4:30 this morning thinking ''Gazpacho!''  Gazpacho is a cold, flavorful raw vegetable soup, indigenous to Spain and Portugal.  The first time I ever tried it was in a tapas restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin.  One of the women I was with immediately pronounced it "bad" and pushed it away.  I thought it was spectacular!  I asked the Chef about ingredients, and he reluctantly filled me in and corrected my wrong guesses.  I was able to duplicate it almost perfectly, but somehow lost my notes.  This turned out different, but I really like it!  I'll need to shop soon, since my fresh vegetables have dwindled to almost nothing, but as a grocery list began to formulate, I realized I had everything I needed for what seemed like an interesting gazpacho recipe.  So here I am at 4:45am, typing it up!

As you chop the ingredients you can put them right into your food processor, then empty it into a big bowl, or assemble everything into that big bowl then blend the ingredients in small batches and transfer to another big bowl or pot to store in the refrigerator.  What you don't eat, or give away, would make a great vegetable soup base, or add some tomato sauce for a spicy interesting pasta sauce.  You could use it for that now, or freeze for another time.

Serve fresh, with a dab of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt and some croutons.

Mmmm!  Today. . .it's Gazpacho For Breakfast 😃. . .Lin

2018 Summer Gazpacho

The first time I ever had Gazpacho was in a Spanish restaurant, south of Madison, Wisconsin called La Paella, which has since closed.  We had ordered only wine and several different tapas, one of which being the Gazpacho.  The other gal I was dining with as well as our husbands, tried it, pushed it to center of the table and declared it to be "bad" gazpacho.  Well, naturally, I had to try it, and just loved it!  I finished every bit and practically licked the bowl!  Afterward, I asked to speak to the Chef who had made it.  He would not give me the recipe, but verified each ingredient I guessed, and finally set me straight on all those I hadn't mentioned, but wouldn't give me amounts.  I went home and was able to recreate the recipe almost perfectly!  Mmmmm-Gazpacho-Awesomeness!  Sadly, I either wrote it down and lost it, or never took the time to write it down.  A year later, toward the end of summer, I had ingredients, but no recipe.  I made something good, but not like my La Paella experience.  This continued to experiment and try my hand at this for several years.  Then. . . as fate would have it. . .I was in Madison, many years later, while working for our local police department, for a 3 day seminar.  After the final lecture, which ended way early, I decided to drive back to La Paella and get a big container of that great Gazpacho.  They sold me a HUGE plastic container of it. . .possibly a 1 gallon ice cream bucket, or even larger.  I couldn't WAIT to get home and have some.  Sadly, it was just awful.  WAY too much oil and salt and the flavor was way off.  I couldn't taste the carrot, and I've since determined the carrot is what really sets it apart from other Gazpachos.  Since then, I'm always on the path to create The Perfect Gazpacho!  It's an OCD Quest I'm afraid!  This is my 2018 Summer Harvest Version. . .

6 pickling cucumbers

2 med. garlic cloves

1 lg. purple shallot

½ lg. green pepper

⅓ stalk of celery

1 sm.-med. beet*

3 ripe tomatoes

2 big carrots

2t garlic salt

2t black pepper

½c Tuscan olive oil

3T white balsamic vinegar

tomato juice if needed to thin while blending

Ohh, so interesting!  This turned out well, but nothing like the La Paella version.  I like it, but it wouldn't be everyone's favorite, since the beet really dominated.

*The beet is optional, it's flavor is very aggressive, and without it, the color of the soup would be more green and orange.  I used my blender this time, and it's the consistency of baby food.  I didn't need any of the tomato juice.  If you use a food processor, it'll be chunkier.

Today I had it, as shown, with a squeeze of a sour cream sauce I made.  Sour cream with a little half and half to thin it, then seasoned with fresh ground black pepper, garlic salt, dill - then shake like crazy in a plastic squeeze bottle.  The kind used for catsup and mustard at hot dog stands.  Well. . .stay tuned and do a 'search' here for Gazpacho in a couple weeks, I have another idea for a simpler one, if I can find the right cucumbers! . . . Lin

Fresh Vegetable Gazpacho

This gazpacho isn't an exact recipe.  However, the important vegetables, for me are; carrot, tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper (green, orange, red or yellow), cilantro and garlic.  Those must be included!  Additionally, this time I added celery and radishes.

28oz. can petite diced tomatoes

½ bunch of cilantro
4oz. fresh spinach
1t ground cumin
1t fresh ground black pepper

1t Trader Joe's Chili-Lime Seasoning

seasoned panko bread crumbs for topping

plain Greek yogurt or sour cream for topping

Chop, grind or keep vegetables a little chunky, in your food processor, alternately with the tomatoes.  This batch looks pretty disgusting (cold green soup is just not everyone's thing - due to the spinach) but it sure was good for dinner just now with some leftover hummus and crackers. . .Lin

Gazpacho Simmered Chicken Breasts

For 1 chicken breast: Cut in bite-size pieces and saute' in a little onion and 1-2T coconut oil. When sizzling, add a few large tablespoons of the gazpacho and more onions. Stir, then cover and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with steamed vegetables, quinoa or rice. Nice and spicy :-). . .Lin

Spicy Mixed Vegetable Gazpacho

There were 9 of us here for a potluck last night. The pictures show the evolution of the original vegetable tray.

This was a good balance of vegetables for a cold, raw gazpacho. I made this in the blender adding a clove of elephant garlic and about a cup of spicy Hot V8.

If you want to make a milder version, use a smaller clove of garlic and regular V8. . .Lin

Fresh Gazpacho

I've been eating so many salads lately! I was craving vegetables just now, but wanted them in a little different form. The first time I had Gazpacho was in a Spanish Tapas restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. The Chef gave me a 'yes or no' on the ingredients as I guessed them, but gave no proportions. Over the years I've had fun with this, adding and subtracting as my mood or vegetables on hand dictated. Today it was:

1½ tomatoes

1-2 stalks of celery with tops

1 Vidalia onion

2 lg cloves of garlic

2 mini English cucumbers

2 carrots

2T extra virgin olive oil

2T balsamic vinegar

zest of 1 lemon

juice of ½ lemon

salt and pepper – if needed

*optional*1c± V8 or tomato juice

Combine everything in a food processor. *If you like gazpacho more soup-like, add juice and blend ¾, then recombine. This recipe turns out thick, almost the consistency of salsa that's been put in a food processor. I like it as a side dish. To get a chunkier texture, you could also 'process' certain ingredients and finely chop others. . .Lin