HOW STRAWBERRY-GAZPACHO SOUP RECENTLY MADE ITS WAY TO MY TABLE
I really like gazpacho…now. There was a time that I thought that I would never, ever try it. Cold soup? Yech! Who eats cold soup? Besides, it sounded so froufrou. Turns out that the Andalusians, in Spain, were brilliant when they came up with this delicious cold soup. Thus, gazpacho! But hold on, they also do gazpacho as a hot soup as well. But that is another story. And really, once I read the recipe I had no qualms about a cold dish of fruits and vegetables. A dish that is so refreshing after a day of sizzling temperatures.
Here in Colorado, summer temperatures are so often in the high 90’s or low 100’s. It is miserable, especially if you are thinking about having to prepare a meal that requires heat. So one day, I was so stinking hot (literally) that I broke down and finally decided to make gazpacho from a cookbook that I used often to plan menus for family gatherings. It did not take long and it was delicious. I was hooked. So every summer, I make it for myself several times when the heat is so unbearable. I made it so often, that I began changing the recipe each time I prepared it. So the gazpacho I make today bears little resemblance to the original. And this version is the best yet. I hope you will think so as well.
I had been mentally working on this idea for a gazpacho with one of my favorite summer fruits for over a week. The evening before this past Father’s Day I finally sat down with my notebook to jot down a rough draft of the ideas I had been tossing around in my head. As is my usual habit, I decided to prepare this for a family lunch on Father’s Day, which once again was the very next day! I willingly admit that this last minute decision is just the latest in a lifetime of making decisions in this manner. It is a very bad habit, one I cannot seem to break.
So there I was, the evening before Father’s Day, trying to read my chicken scratch as I took inventory of what I had on hand. Thankfully, I had almost everything on hand,except for one item. Can you guess what that one ingredient was? No strawberry juice! That meant I had to make it, which really is so simple and more importantly, quick. There used to be a brand of specialty canned fruit juices that could easily be found on grocery store shelves. That no longer seems to be the case. However, you will find the recipe below. So while you have to make it, the ingredient list is really short.
This soup is supposed to be refrigerated for about 6 hours on the day you plan to serve it. That was not going to be possible for me, unless I decided to get up in the middle of the night to make it. Nope, nope, nope–that was not happening. So I made the juice before I went to bed and tucked it into the frig. The tomato juice got the same overnight cold treatment.
You will chop fruit and vegetables, which really does not take long. You will do some blending to make a juice of half of those chopped delicious things. Mix it, refrigerate it, serve it. It is so simple, so quick and so very good.
Gazpacho tastes delicious all by itself, but if you feel you need something to make your meal a little more filling, try heating a few slices of whole-grain bread with a little vegan garlic butter spread, which you will make yourself. Just a little finely chopped garlic mixed with some softened vegan butter substitute. I tend to eat my bread plain since my goal is to avoid as much fat as I can. Vegan butter tends to have a lot of coconut oil in it which is so bad for your heart. In fact, research has shown that coconut oil should only be used on the outside of you, but never, ever on the inside of you. And cardiologists agree.
Just a footnote here which will explain my approach to eliminating the most harmful things in any diet. First, I buy organic whenever possible. If organic is not available, then I look for non-GMO. Conventional produce is always last on the list. In addition to fats, I also try to avoid salt and sugar. Using vinegar, wine, lemon or lime juice will mask the omission of salt. I have to admit that I was sceptical about this switch but it works well. If I need sweetening, my ingredient of choice is maple syrup, and as little as possible. As hard as I try, I am not a purist. When you embrace the vegan lifestyle, one finds that we will run into circumstances that make it impossible for us to be 100% in our choices. Sometimes, that happens more often than we would like. Or we find that while something may be vegan, it may not be healthy. We usually discover this sooner than later, so don’t feel guilty if you find yourself having to make a compromise. But when you have a choice, always go for the healthy.
The Strawberry-Tomato Gazpacho was well received by the family, whew! By itself, I knew it was not going to be filling enough for the menfolk, so I made a Panzella salad to go with it. Heavenly!
So are you ready to start? C’mon, let’s get to it! We will start with the Strawberry juice.
STRAWBERRY JUICE
1 cup water
1 2-pound cello pack of organic strawberries (about 4 cups)
Place the water into your blender jar first, then add your cleaned strawberries. I use a high speed blender, but if you have a regular blender, that will be fine. If those annoying little strawberry seeds bother you, then run your blended juice through a double layer of cheesecloth or a sieve.
Run the blender just long enough to puree all the strawberries. Pour the juice into a lidded jar or a pitcher and place it into the refrigerator overnight. You really want to do this, ‘cause I’ve found that the overnight chill makes this juice all the better.
STRAWBERRY-TOMATO GAZPACHO
4 cups fresh strawberries, diced
3 cups English cucumber, peeled and diced (about 1 large cucumber)
2 cups diced sweet red peppers.
2 cups diced tomatoes (about 3)
1 small fennel bulb, cored, and diced
½ diced red onion (or you may use a shallot for a milder onion taste)
1 finely diced serrano chili, if desired
4 cups strawberry juice (see recipe above)
2 cups tomato juice
½ cup red wine vinegar
¼ framboise (raspberry) vinegar
Dash of good Balsamic vinegar, if desired
GARNISH SUGGESTIONS
½ cup finely chopped strawberries
Mint and/or Basil, finely sliced (chiffonade)
Parsley leaves, pulled from the stem
Pinch of dried red chilies, if you desire a bit more heat
Dice the strawberries, tomatoes, cucumber, the sweet red pepper, the fennel and the red onion into about ½ inch dice.You can do a coarse chop in your food processor to save some time, but you don’t want the veggies and fruit cut too finely, or you won’t be able to recognize it in your bowl of soup. Dice the serrano into ¼ inch dice. Place all the diced fruit and vegetables into a large bowl. Add the strawberry juice and the tomato juice, as well as the vinegars. Stir well.
By the way, raw fennel has a slightly licorice flavor, so if you don’t like the fennel, simply leave it out. I don’t like licorice, but I do love the fennel in this soup.
Remove half of the well mixed contents of the bowl and place into the jar of a blender or a food processor. You may also use an immersion blender here as well. Because you are basically making another juice, the blender is the better bet. If you use a food processor, you will probably want to strain the juice through a cheesecloth lined sieve to remove the small chunky bits. Pour the juiced ingredients back into the bowl of chopped veggies. Stir well to combine.
Refrigerate the gazpacho up to six hours before serving. If desired, garnish each serving with the chiffonade of mint, basil and/or the parsley. You can also use the fennel fronds for the garnish. Pull them from the stems and cut into bite-sized pieces. It would also be great topped with torn spinach leaves. You could also try a garnish of a few toasted bread croutons. Or, how about using 2-3 Kite Hill vegan ravioli to make the soup a little heartier?
Makes 8-9 servings of 1 ½ cups each.
