Gazpacho In The Summer Months, Who Makes This ?

The idea of cold soup has never made sense to me, I think of soup as a hot food to warm up my body when it is cold outside, but not as something to eat when it is cold.
I just found an easy recipe for a fast gazpacho, and it looks kind of like a combination of a cold soup, a hearty veggie drink, and a savory smoothie.
In any case, I am going to try making it, (it looks fairly simple), and see how it goes as a light meal or bedtime snack in those hot summer days when we want something cold before bed and not something hot.

Here is the recipe (from my McDougal Quick and Easy cookbook) :

 

Okay, I made the first trial batch of the gazpacho experiment.
Since I wanted it to stay really red in color, and not that brownish shade that you get when combining red and green foods, I used a red pepper instead of a green one, and part of a purple/red onion instead of the green onions , and peeled the cucumber.
I added a dab of fresh rosemary (just because I love rosemary), and a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash lemon-pepper seasoning. And because both Bobby and I like spicy, I added a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper as well.
I put everything in the Vitamix and blended it until it looked very smooth.

I had a bottle of the tomato juice that was over a quart, so I used the whole thing, and ended up with 2 quarts of the gazpacho, which already tasted pretty good when we sampled a little bit.
We are headed for the fitness center, so the gazpacho can sit in the refrigerator and meld the flavors while we are gone. I am thinking that we will enjoy this once we have the hot summer weather every day, and it is very healthy, so I will be making more, and probably also add some fresh tomatoes next time.

 

Quoted for truth.

I've never tried gazpacho.

 

I eagerly await your reviews.

 

I tried a glass with my dinner today, and it tastes good. It is still not something that I would call a soup, but maybe it can be a “souped-up “ V-8 ?
Anyway, I think that it will be great for those hot summer days when something cool and not heavy to eat seems like a good idea. It is colder today than yesterday, here in Alabama, plus I am still cold from swimming for an hour, and something hot sounds better than something cold right now; but I did want to at least try a little bit of a cup along with my potato and green beans.

 

I've not had gazpacho. Is it supposed to be blended smooth, or should it be chunky?

I might have to try this, just because I have not yet.

 

This recipe is made in a blender. I don’t know if it can be chunky or if it is always blended. This was like a spicy V-8 drink, but with fresh ingredients added.

 

I just looked up an Alton Brown recipe. His took about half the mixture and ran it through a blender, and left the other half intact.

I imagine the recipes are all over the place, depending on what region you're talking about and whose mother taught you to make it.

 

I would also think that the casein in the sour cream helps to unbind the capsaicin from the tongue.

I noticed that Alton Brown not only uses basil and jalapeño, but he incorporates balsamic vinegar (a favorite of mine) and Worcestershire sauce (which I doubt is an authentic ingredient that grows wild on the Iberian peninsula.) Lots of different flavors going on there.

 

This morning, it was chilly, and I decided to try heating up the gazpacho, and had it as a hot breakfast soup, with a piece of my homemade whole wheat bread and hummus. It made a great hot soup, too, so I think that this is a good recipe that can be used either hot or cold. I like how simple that it is, since i hate cooking, and especially any kind of complicated recipe.
I am happy to leave it up to Bobby to be the family chef !

 

I might try it. I like tomato-based soups of most types.

edit to add: I'll seek out a complicated recipe. I always do.