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Monday, 23 June 2008 |
julie's healthy gazpacho
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The technique to making my friend Julie's gazpacho is what sets it apart: she grinds up the veggies first in the processor, then adds the liquid. If you blend it all at once, you end up with something more like liquid salad than cold soup. You can serve it plain or with avocado as a first course or add shrimp, chopped eggs, or crab to make it a light main dish. Either way, it's a great choice to beat the heat.
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serves 6
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prep time: 20 minutes |
chill time: 1 hour
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3 celery stalks
2 green onions
1 small green bell pepper
1 regular cucumber
1 ripe red tomato or 1 cup red cherry tomatoes
Handful fresh basil or cilantro (either or both), optional
1 quart V-8 juice
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 lemon
Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper
Garnishes [see note] |
Cut celery and green onions into 2-inch lengths; roughly chop the bell pepper, discarding stem and seeds. Peel and seed the cucumber and cut it into 2-inch chunks. Cut the tomato in half and squeeze out the seeds, then chop it into chunks (if using cherry tomatoes, just pull off stems). Put vegetables and basil and/or cilantro (if you have them) in a food processor with the metal blade and pulse several times until minced, but not pureed. Pour in 1 cup of the V-8 juice, then pulse the mixture to blend quickly but not puree. Pour into a large bowl and add the rest of the V-8 juice. With a garlic press, squeeze the garlic directly into the bowl, then add the juice from HALF the lemon. Stir and taste the gazpacho; season as needed with more lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt and pepper. Cover the bowl and put in the refrigerator; chill for at least an hour before serving.
To serve, ladle the gazpacho into bowls and garnish as desired. The gazpacho lasts, covered in the fridge, for up to 2 days, but tastes best the day it is made.
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note: serve the gazpacho plain for a first course or garnish it with chopped avocadoes or hard-boiled eggs. To make it more substantial, top it with bay shrimp or crabmeat. It's fun to put the garnishes out in little bowls along with the bottle of Tabasco and let everyone customize their own bowlful.
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