Tomatoes are at the peak of season right now and many of us have too many to know what to do with.  The solution?  Make a beautiful bowl of gazpacho, the quintessential chilled summer soup that celebrates the bounty of summer. There are so many delicious variations but I’m still stuck on the classic- tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, bell peppers, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.
I was lucky enough to live in Spain for a few years, where this dish originated. One day in my tiny kitchen in Barcelona, I was trying to blend up a tasty gazpacho. My house mate from Valencia tasted it and made a sour face. Too acidic! He took out some stale bread and fried up croutons in olive oil. Ah ha! The fat and carbohydrate balanced the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar perfectly. As someone who is gluten-free and cooks therapeutically, I decided to come up with a really clean and simple recipe without the greasy chunks of bread (although that is delicious too!). I don’t have the original recipe, but this is the basic idea. Enjoy!

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6 large tomatoes, heirloom are best
1 clove garlic
1 medium cucumber, peeled unless you have a high speed blender
2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil, + more to taste
water, to adjust texture if needed
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large avocado, diced
flat leaf parsley, for garnish, chopped
Add all of the ingredients except for the avocado and parsley to a blender. Blend until smooth, taste, and adjust ingredients until they taste balanced (adding more olive oil if it is still to acidic + salt and pepper to bring out the flavors). Garnish each bowl with avocado, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

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Uncategorized by Wendy Van Wagner