Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons when Lisa becomes a vegetarian? Specifically the part where she gets laughed at for serving ice cold tomato soup at Homer’s barbecue? That’s Gazpacho for you, the much maligned icon of the vegetarian diet that nobody really loves.
When I was thirteen, I came home from summer camp and told my dad that I was going to be a vegetarian from then on. “Well,” he said, this look of pity in his eyes, “you better like Gazpacho, then.” Then he told me about ice-cold tomato soup, evidently the only thing he could think of that vegetarians ate. He made it sound so gross that I held of on vegetarianism for another seven years. But that was a sort of outdated concept of a vegetarian diet. There’s so much more veggie variety these days, and I don’t think I’ve had Gazpacho more than but once or twice in the past ten years.
So since the WIU theme this week is “vegetarian” and since I decided to only do vegan recipes for WIU, it seemed like the perfect time to give Gazpacho a shot so I could decide if it is really hot or not.
Gazpacho is a lot like salsa or potato salad in that there are about a million ways you can make it, as long as you have the base ingredients in place. I took the inspiration for this recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which was the only vegetarian cookbook among the 5 or 6 that I own that even had a recipe for Gazpacho. I guess you can say that this iconic soup is on the outs now that we vegetarians have so many other options for sustaining life without eating meat. But here goes…
GAZPACHO
Serves one, three times
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 lbs tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- one cucumber, coarsely chopped
- 2 slices day-old bread, crusts removed
- 1/4 cup virgin olive oil
- 1 Hungarian hot pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup water
- salt & pepper to taste
- lime to garnish
METHOD:
Wash & cut all the vegetables and feed into a food processor. Process until all vegetables are fully processed. But! If you want to do it right, you’re going to need a bigger food processor than the one pictured, because it took three rounds of food processing to get all those vegetables in there. Serve immediately, over ice. (Do you like the way I put the layer of ice between two dishes?)
Goes great with a Coronoa (it actually did, I was out of all the other crappy beer.) Also goes well with corn or anything else golden you have lying around. (I like to put cinnamon and butter on my corn.)
The questions, always with the questions!
Was the recipe easy to follow?
Oh yes, completely. The Bittman book is great because it gives you suggestions and sets you down a path, but it also guides you in ways that you can improvise recipes to your own tastes. So I had the basic recipe and then I kind of played around with it so that I could make it spicier without adding raw onions, which would be bad, bad, bad for me. But maybe good for you? The biggest problem was that all the stuff didn’t fit into the food processor at one time. It made quite a mess for a recipe that should be pretty simple.
Did the dish taste good?
It did! If I make it again, however, this is what I would change, besides getting a bigger food processor: I’d use 3 slices of day-old bread instead of two, and I would use more substantial or crusty bread. The soup was a little thin. Also, I think I’d use ice cubes instead of a cup of water, because that would maybe give me a smoothie-like texture which might be nice. Also, it could stand to be a little spicier. Maybe a dash of Tabasco would have topped it off nicely.
Would you make it again?
I think I would. Maybe I could use my blender instead of the food processor and fit it all in. It’s the perfect recipe to serve at a 70’s themed party if you want to make an authentic 70’s style vegetarian meal. They didn’t have Boca burgers back then, you know. Probably compliments fondue quite nicely.
Allie said,
July 30, 2008 at 8:46 am
I love Gazpacho! Seriously, I do.
I’ve never heard of it with bread in it before. It looks good. I’m guessing my GF bread would muck it up though.
I think the bread makes it thicker. I never knew it was in there before, either. Could just be my recipe.
nancypearlwannabe said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:18 am
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever tried Gazpacho. I didn’t even realize there was bread in it. Smoothie soup does not sound very tempting to me, but then, I didn’t even like tomato soup until about a year ago, so who knows? Maybe it would be a new fave. It does look pretty delish.
I hated tomato soup for the longest time, too.
neuteronomy said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:32 am
You don’t make friends with salad!
I will now be cinnamoning my corn for the foreseeable future. In my mind it is delicious.
I believe it’s you don’t “win” friends with salad. Man, it feels lame to type that.
Ann said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:32 am
I don’t think I could do cold soup. ever. For any reason.
But the Corona looks inviting! (As did the corn before you put cinammon and sugar on it. It is nearly impossible to get fresh sweet corn in Ireland.)
Just cinnamon on the corn, no sugar. Corn has enough natural sugar to handle it.
stefanie said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:40 am
Damn. I was all set to chime in with “You don’t make friends with salad!” but Beej beat me to it. (Also, I realize that’s a different episode, but it’s appropriate nonetheless.)
I have had gazpacho only once, and it tasted like eating salsa straight. Not my favorite. I doubt it had bread in it, though. Maybe your version is better?
It is a lot like just eating salsa, but smoother.
RA said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’ve only had gazpacho once, and it was not my idea of a good time. But then, I don’t really like tomato soup in general, so maybe it’s just me?
I believe the phrase is “acquired taste.” But who has the time to acquire it?
Brando said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:49 am
Gazpacho is one of the few dishes my wife ever made that I didn’t really care for. I couldn’t get past the cold soup idea.
I love the dinner setting picture. It’s amazing how much ambience gold medals add to food. That must be why they put them on the Wheaties box.
You have to not think of it as soup, or something. It’s as odd as hot Wheaties.
Poppy said,
July 30, 2008 at 10:28 am
Wow, I seriously have never seen blended gazpacho before. The kind we have in VT tends to be really chunky. I wonder if that’s a regional thing…
I LOVE gazpacho, though. I have 0% chance of having it today for lunch, because my Chinese restaurant doesn’t serve it, but I might be on a quest for it for dinner.
Maybe VT doesn’t have good blenders or something.
lizgwiz said,
July 30, 2008 at 11:04 am
Gazpacho must be making a comeback. The last time I went to the farmer’s market, the guy who makes bread and scones made me try some gazpacho. By “made me try” I mean that he enthusiastically held out a little plastic spoonful, cupped his hand underneath my chin and said “you have to try this.” So I did. It was actually pretty refreshing on such a hot day. I should make some at home.
Those pushy farmer’s market types, they get cha every time!
The Modern Gal said,
July 30, 2008 at 11:06 am
Nice medal shot.
BTW, what is wooden-like wall thing that’s always in the background of your WIU shots?
The wooden thing is my chopping block. It obscures the view of the mess in the rest of my kitchen and such.
apollocreed said,
July 30, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I don’t know – I’ve been veggie for like 10 years and I cannot stand gazpacho.
I think there’s a holy grail recipe out there that will be universally loved. But you have to get past Nazis and invisible bridges and knights of the realm to find it.
Adorable Girlfriend said,
July 30, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Nice addition of the medals! Love it.
Love it!
When can we all come over for dinner? Your posts make me so jealous of my-less-than-Martha Stewart-skills.
Sure! My recipes are too large for just me, anyway.
Sarah said,
July 30, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I am also surprised that there is bread in this soup. Who would’ve guessed?
Also, I’m jelous that you have a food processor. Did you buy it from one of those late-night infomercials featuring that old guy with the crazy eyebrows?
I got it as a Christmas present from my regular-eyebrowed sister.
courtney said,
July 30, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I bet it’s especially delicious with a side dish of Seven Gold Medals. Yum!
They liven up any meal.
mickey said,
July 30, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I’ve been wanting soup, but it’s been too hot. Here’s the solution! Except I don’t like your idea of using ice cubes. A veggie smoothie does not sound nice.
I think ice would keep it colder. Maybe you’d have to let it sit out and melt for a few minutes…
mickey said,
July 30, 2008 at 2:37 pm
And by the way: Congratulations on all those medals! I can’t believe I missed out on such an awesome post!
Thanks! That was one of the rare posts that just came to me…
Deb on the Rocks said,
July 30, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Cinnamon? Cinnamon? On corn? I thought they were pretty grill marks.
No, I actually microwave my corn. I know! It sounds wrong, but it is so much tastier than on the grill.
Pants said,
July 30, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Whoa, cinnamon?! I’m going to have to try that!!
And butter, don’t forget the butter.
Stefanie said,
July 30, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I just saw your reply back to Beej. You are correct. It’s “win.” Well, we were close.
http://www.glarkware.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=3866
The spirit is all that matters. I wish that tee shirt were still available.
Laurel said,
July 30, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Yum! I, for one, adore gazpacho! And Mark Bittman! I would undoubtedly love this soup.
Yes! I’ll bring some down to the city when I’m there this weekend.
Z said,
July 30, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I LOVE Gazpacho though I tend to make mine with less tomato, more potato (and yes, I blend it) with LOTS of garlic. But that’s just me, because I mess with everything…
And now you’ve inspired me, perhaps I shall make some soon
Oh, potato, I get that would be interesting… I wonder if you could boil it first, and if that would make any difference in texture.
Jennifer M. said,
July 30, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I made Gazpacho once with a blender (I didn’t have a food processor at the time). It was a pretty standard size blender and I couldn’t make it all in one batch; I think it took two. My recipe didn’t have bread and that idea kind of intrigues me. . .
I think this recipe would have been just a tomato too big for the blender, and then I would have been even more annoyed.
jennifer said,
August 1, 2008 at 11:01 am
O.M.Geeger! You did NOT just guilt trip me over here you bleeding heart liberal vegetarian (your words chick!). Don’t you know I am running late? Don’t you know how succeptible I am to guilt? Don’t you know I LOVE YA?!!!
HAH!
It was wonderful to hear from you this morning. I am frazzeled because I overslept and am 2 hours later getting on the road for a 5 1/2 hour drive…. and grinning because of you.
I will have to pass the recipe on to Hubby. I am not, ahem, a cook. I am posting mouth watering photos of the ribs that he grilled last night some time next week. Do you want me to forewarn you before I publish it? I am here to please… sometimes. Haven’t been here in a while. SORRY!
Have a Fan TABULOUS weekend and I will be back to read the pt. 1 and pt 2 posts above next week. Looks velly interestink!
Jen
rdl said,
August 1, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I love gazpacho! thanks for the recipe – now i know what to do with all those cukes from my garden! if only the tomatoes would hurry up.