for 4 people:
Gazpacho
3 cans whole tomatoes. Or if it's cheaper, buy about 10-12 whole tomatoes & freeze them so they're easier to peel.
2-3 cucumbers
2 red peppers
2 slices of toast bread, or any other mild tasting bread
1 small white onion, the sweet kind, or about a quarter of a real onion
1 garlic clove
olive oil
balsamico (if you have some, if not, normal vinegar tastes fine too)
salt n spices
sugar as needed
2 trays of ice cubes
It's best if you make it a good 4-6 hours in advance, although fresh is fine too.
Peel the cucumbers, cut up the peppers and and add the tomatoes, onion and garlic.Blend everything up, if you're using whole tomatoes add a little cold water. Now I throw in the bread and let it soak a little, then I blend it up too. Spice as you like, I put about a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of balsamico along with maybe a tablespoon of sugar and salt. The sugar gives the tomatoes a nice taste and brings out all the juices. If I have fresh marjoram or parsley, I throw that in as well. Once everything is blended, I put the ice cubes in and store my gazpacho in the refridgerator till serving. Be sure to taste before you serve though, in case you put too many ice cubes in and the taste has faded.
We eat it for lunch on a hot day, along with cold chicken legs or cold hamburgers.
Tip: make the evening before, it tastes best the next day.
It's fast, it's filling, it's cold, has lots of vitamin C and is a really healthy light meal.
If you have time and ganas, you can fry up little bread cubes (croutons) and use them instead of the toast bread. Also, a dash of tabasco if kids won't be eating it tastes great. If you're wanting to lose weight, skip the bread and add some celery. Yummy!
