Gazpacho

Right off the bat I’ll say that I was not looking forward to making gazpacho. I had a bad experience as a kid with the cold [blueberry] soup that my grandmother made ::shudder::.  Granted, she’s never been a great cook but I’ve always avoided cold soup since that day.

However, since this group isn’t about taking the easy way out and skipping a recipe just because I may not like something, I forced myself to make the soup…and I LOVED it.  It was full of spicy-tomatoey goodness and I took Ina’s advice seriously when she stressed not to overprocess the veggies in the food processor; they added a nice textural difference to the soup which Kyle likened to eating salsa.  I put the recipe together one morning before work in the course of 15 minutes and let it chill all day…what a nice no-cook meal to come home to! Since this was the 4th or 5th soup recipe I’ve made from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, I don’t see how it could have been bad!!

My thanks go out to Meryl of My Bit of Earth for choosing a recipe that most of the group had never made before and forcing me to try yet another recipe I would not have tried on my own. Be sure to head on over to Barefoot Bloggers to check out the ever-growing list of members!

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One year ago: Perfection Poundcake and BB Parmesan Chicken

Two years ago: Choco-Peanut Butter Cups, Veggie Stuffed Chicken w/ Roasted Red Pepper Basil Sauce, and Apple Crisp Pie and Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cakes

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Gazpacho

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, page 79

WW Points = 3

Ingredients:

• 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!
2. After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

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