Eat Some Wear Some
Gazpacho is one of those things I have always loved in theory but every time I order it or try to make it, the result is inevitably one of two things: an unhealthy oily mess or glorified salsa. And yet I have maintained this dream of one day finding a gazpacho recipe that is delicious aaaaaand healthy – because lets be serious, there is nothing worse than thinking you are being sensible when you really should have just gone for the burger…ok there are probably worse things in the world but I am guessing you are not reading a post about gazpacho to hear about all the sh*t hitting the fan around the world (for that I recommend my favorite daily email that tells me what I need to know in current events so I am not a complete idiot living in my gazpacho-filled food bubble).
Long story short, this gazpacho recipe is based on one from last weeks nytimes food section that ended up being too good to be true. It used only fresh tomatoes which is noble in principle but when they are pureed with lots of other things they do not pack enough punch – so I added some canned fire roasted whole tomatoes which perfectly boost that fresh tomato flavor. This also helps with the color – which in my nytimes version was somewhere between beige and peach in color. Not ideal.
What makes this gazpacho recipe so much better than any other I have made is that, using very little oil, you are essentially emulsifying the whole thing, bringing all of the flavors together (unlike the previously mentioned salsa variety).
Just make sure you have really ripe delicious red tomatoes – they are coming in fast and furious right now so get on it people!! Shout out to Farmer Bob (aka my Dad) for those ridiculously beautiful tomatoes pictured above! I promise to leave some for you to eat.
Gazpacho
Serves:
8-12 cups
Ingredients
2 lbs red ripe tomatoes
1 large cucumber, peeled
2-3 New Mexico chiles (anaheim or other light green pepper)
1 small yellow onion
1 clove garlic
1 28oz can whole plum tomatoes (I like Muir Glen fire roasted)
juice of 2 limes
1-2 tbl kosher salt (if using fine salt, start with half this amount)
black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
Puree everything except olive oil in a food processor or blender - let run a minute or two to really get it smooth. You will probably need to do this in two batches so just roughly divide everything in half.
Once smooth, slowly drizzle olive oil into the mixer while it is running (again if doing in batches, divide olive oil as well).
Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Chill for a few hours before serving. This keeps very nicely in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Serve with some avocado and crusty bread for dipping.