Gazpacho

It's hot hot hot hot HOT here. And sooo humid. It's gross!

As I have said before, I don't know how you Florida people can stand life down there. This is just misery. You can't do ANYTHING outside. It's just plain unhealthy.

I heard there's a long heat wave happening in Kansas and that for 9 days the ozone has been so bad there that people were having trouble breathing. Now, why do you want to live in a place like that?

No, thank you!

So, in the midst of the heat and yuck, all I want to eat are vegetables and fruit. Dinner last night? Salad, teriyaki/ginger/garlic shrimp and fried potatoes. Breakfast? A banana and iced coffee. Lunch again today? Salad. Dinner tonight? Homemade GAZPACHO!!!

I love love love me some good, medium-spicy gazpacho. I don't enjoy the kind that tastes like plain tomato juice with vegetables thrown in. I had the oddest gazpacho yesterday that was NOT seasoned at all, and it had corn and a few black beans in it.

I'm sorry. That's just wrong. There is no such thing as corn and black beans in gazpacho. There should be a law against it!

SOOOO, feeling disappointed by my sub-par gazpacho yesterday, I set out to make the world's most delicious gazpacho today! I scoured the internet for the best, highest-rated gazpacho recipes and what I found was distinctly lacking. Some are pureed with cubed bread (weird), most were not spiced correctly (Cumin? En gazpacho?? Noooosirrreeeee BOB!)

So, I got all my ingredients today at the grocery stor and made up a recipe today! I took what sounded good from a few different recipes and then played with the seasonings and found a really delicious combination that is chilling in our refrigerator as we speak!

Give it a whirl, if you want! It's really good!

In the meantime, I'm gonna go turn up the A/C and relax!

Ciao!

Spicy Gazpacho Recipe

Start with:
4 ½ cups of tomato juice
1/3 c. white wine vinegar (plus a dash more for flavor if you want!)
1/3 c. olive oil

Dice:
1 good sized cuke, seeds removed
3 small tomatoes with much of the seeds and liquid removed or 3 plum tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper
1 med red onion or 4 or 5 scallions

Season with:
3 cloves minced garlic
½ t. sea salt
1 t. ground pepper

4 dashes of Red Hot sauce (cayenne pepper sauce)
1 T. chili powder
Optional – green Tabasco sauce to heat it up (jalapeno sauce)

Mix together well and chill for 2 or 3 hours before serving. Can be served with a dollop of sour cream on top and cilantro as a garnish.