Rainbow Gazpacho

[Guest guest]

We are actually having this tomorrow. It's supposed to be the hottest day

this week (only in the 80's) and humid and I do a double shift and won't be

home until 9 PM anyway. I'm going to make this tonight. I am using tomato

juice and then chopping up a vine-ripened tomatoes for the soup, the

tomatoes are good enough yet to stand on their own. And for the croutons,

I'll just toss with some garlic flavored oil instead (I imagine it would be

kinda hard to rub untoasted bread with the garlic...) Yesterday we had

leftover soup (no real recipe, just getting ready to go salad greens and

beans and veggies...a kinda minestrone) The chickpea dish will be this

weekend (I'm going to try it in the crockpot).

 

Rainbow Gazpacho

 

Makes about 5 cups

 

This cool Spanish Soup requires no cooking. It makes a light summer supper

with a crusty bread and nice cheeses, such as manchego, queso blanco,

havarti or colby.

 

Croutons:

6 Slices French Bread

2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

olive oil spray

Soup: 3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cucumber, peeled seeded and chopped

1 each: red, yellow and green bell pepper, trimmed, seeded and chopped

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as cilantro, tarragon, parsley or basil

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Red wine, vegetable stock or tomato juice, as needed

 

1. To make croutons: Preheat oven to 325. Lightly spray bread slices on one

side with olive oil and rub with cut side of garlic clove. Reserve garlic.

Cut bread slices into small cubes, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 10

minutes, until dry and toasty. (Toss to redistribute cubes once or twice

during cooking.) Remove from oven and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onion, celery

and herbs.

3. In blender or food processor, puree half of chopped vegetable mixture

with reserved garlic cloves. Return puree to bowl with chopped vegetables.

Stir in oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. If necessary, add enough wine,

stock or juice to make a soup-like consistency. Serve topped with garlic

croutons.

 

Veggie Life Summer '02