One day, years ago, I had a spoonful of gazpacho and the cold crisp delicious soup blew my mind. When I was younger, I turned my nose up at peppers. I actually had such a dislike, I would hunt and pick them out of any meal, but this one spoonful was life-altering. Now I eat raw peppers pretty regularly. Once, a friend suggested a cilantro addition, and I loved it! So now, I give it a quick parsley and cilantro injection, and it’s perfect.
Every May, I make my first batch of gazpacho and inhale it. I always make a lot, no matter how much I try to cut down the recipe. This is a great one to share with friends. Brighten someone’s day and drop a container of this super healthy soup with a “Welcome, warm weather’” note.
Ingredients:
- 1 each yellow, green, orange and red pepper diced
- 1 cucumber (English or regular) diced, skin on
- 2 firm medium tomatoes or one large tomato diced
- 1 red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic diced well
- 4 cups V8
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs cumin
- 1/2 Tbs ground mustard
- 1/2 c of Italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 c of fresh cilantro, chopped
- Few shakes course ground black pepper
- Fewer shakes of sea salt
- A shake of cayenne pepper (Optional)
Dice up everything except the parsley and cilantro. You can use a food processor, I find it relaxing so I chop by hand.
Mix all veggies in a large bowl add seasoning with a little salt and pepper
Pour in balsamic vinegar toss then add V8 & mix well
Pulse blend the parsley, cilantro and about 1 cup of the soup. This helps give it a concentrated boost of flavor and thickens it up a little more.
Add salt and cayenne and more balsamic if needed
Store in fridge for at least an hour or overnight… if you can wait that long.
Enjoy!
