Simple summer gazpacho – a light and refreshing soup that will fill you up and cool you down! Make this vegan, vegetarian soup with the freshest tomatoes, cucumbers and vegetables you can find.
Hello there dear readers! Please step into my world for a bit while I take you on a little virtual tour of my version of summer. I can sum up what summer is like for me pretty much in this short list:
- Stay indoors as much as possible
- Drink lots of icy beverages (lemonade! spritzers! sparkling water!)
- Gravitate towards air conditioning like a moth towards light
- Grumble / complain / bemoan – gratuitously – about the heat / humidity / life in general
- Eat lots of cool and refreshing food like ice cream and this simple summer gazpacho… minimal work, minimal heat
- Repeat items 1-5 as needed!
Jokes aside, the gazpacho recipe I’m sharing with you today is simple, healthy (vegan, vegetarian and bursting with lycopene, vitamins a, c, and folic acid!) and delicious. The best part – you don’t need to turn on the oven, the stove or the microwave! Just grab your handy stick blender and blend away!
Because it’s a simple, cold dish – this gazpacho works well with the freshest, most seasonal and flavorful ingredients you can find. So spend the time to find locally grown, organic vegetables. It will pay off in dividends when you dive head first into this lush, vibrant dish!
So make a big batch of this gazpacho, serve with a salad, some crusty bread, or if you’re like me – a pint of ice cream! And cool off while being good to both your taste buds and your body.
- 3 lb ripe tomatoes (Heirloom), peeled and seeded
- 3-4 Persian or Kirby Cucumbers, peeled and seeded
- 1 bell pepper, cored and seeded
- Inner dough of a 4-inch chunk of baguette (I like sourdough)
- ¼ yellow onion, diced
- 12 ounces of tomato juice
- 1 - 1½ clove garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon piment d'espelette or chili flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Roughly chop the cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers
- Combine vegetables in a deep pot with remaining ingredients
- Using an immersion blender, puree ingredients until smooth or it reaches the desired consistency
- Taste and adjust seasoning
- Refrigerate at least 4 hours or ideally overnight before serving
- Garnish with a squeeze of lemon (optional) and serve!
I love your use of cumin and chili! Thank you also for the beautiful visual.
Indeed you brought cooling summer with you! Yum! 🙂
This weekend the temperature here will reach 40C..and I NEED this!
Gorgeous, healthy, simple, flavorful – what is not to like? So sorry we didn’t get to connect in the Berkshires – Mark worries that now that his Mom is gone, there won’t be any reason to go. Now we have a possible future date with you! 🙂
It must taste as gorgeous as it looks. And true, its such a relief to not switch on the oven during the sweltering summers
I’m about 3 weeks behind you on this craving.
Love your gazpacho. It’s dinner tonight!
This looks VERY yummy and I have to admit, I have crockery envy! This plate is just BEAUTIFUL!