Gazpacho

Tomato season has started, and it's come in with a serious bang. Looking at a large pile of tomatoes can be intimidating since not many recipes have tomatoes as the main ingredient besides soup. We have had a horrible heat wave, so a cold tomato soup sounded perfect. I'd never eaten gazpacho, let alone made it, so I was a little nervous. I figured no matter what it would taste like fresh salsa.

Gazpacho
1 1/2 c. chopped, seeded peeled cucumber
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped yellow pepper
6 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lbs. chopped, seeded tomatoes (about 6 large)
1 garlic clove

Mix all of the above ingredients in a large bowl. Add the mixture to the food processor one-third at a time. Process until pureed. Cover and chill.

And that's it...it really is that easy! The original recipe called for white wine vinegar but red wine vinegar worked well. This soup was definitely better the next day, after the flavors had mixed. The onion and vinegar add a kick to the refreshing soup. You do not have to chop any ingredients well since it will be pureed. You can leave the tomatoes skin on or off, up to you. I would not recommend using small cherry tomatoes because they have a lot more skin than regular tomatoes. Make sure you have toasted bread (we used a baguette) to soak up all the yummy tomato juice! This recipe is everything you want in a summer dish, easy and quick to make, refreshing and cool!