classic gazpacho
this classic gazpacho is refreshing and perfect for hot summer days and to savor the abundance of your tomato harvest during the last hot late summer days.
Ingredients
- ½ cucumber English or regular
- ½ red bell pepper
- ¼ medium red onion
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups stale bread cubes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lime
- 4 large tomatoes
- ½ - 1 jalapeño
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon tamari or Worcestershire Sauce optional
Optional Garnish
- fresh basil parsley or cilantro
Instructions
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Peel and dice the cucumber, cut and de-seed the bell pepper and tomatoes and cut about ¼ cup diced red onion. Save the rest of the cucumber and red pepper to use as a snack for dipping this week. Store extra in sealed containers in the fridge. The rest of the onion can be saved for another recipe. Cube the stale bread and soak in the 1/2 cup of water. Add more water if needed to fully soak bread.
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Carefully remove the seeds from the jalapeño and mince as much of it as you would like to use, according to your spice tolerance. Start with ¼ of the pepper and you can add more if you’d like after you blend everything together and taste.
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Set aside about ⅓ of each of the diced bell pepper, onion, cucumber and tomato. Once the bread has soaked, you will squeeze the water out and discard the water. Place soaked bread in blender.
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Juice lime into a blender or food processor. Place all of the rest of the ingredients to blender. If using the tamari or Worcestershire, leave out the salt when you blend everything. After the soup is blended to the consistency you like, you can add the diced vegetables. This will give your soup some crunch and more interesting texture. Taste the soup after blended. If needed add more salt, pepper or any other ingredient that you feel is lacking. It’s about making it to your tastes.
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This soup is eaten chilled, so chill for at least 2 hours before serving. The flavors will develop and it will only taste better after more time in the fridge, so it’s great to prepare ahead of time for a party. You can garnish with rough chopped cilantro, parsley or basil.
Recipe Notes
The Empowered Kitchen Tips: If you need a way to use up cilantro or parsley stems, you can put a few of them in the soup when you blend it together. The gazpacho will last for about a week in the fridge.
If you want to freeze it, you should blend all the ingredients 100% instead of leaving some diced vegetables in it. They won’t freeze well and will have a poor texture when thawed. Just blend all the ingredients, seal, label and date. It will last well in the freezer for up to three months.