gazpacho

Serves 2

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Chill Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, ribs removed, and roughly chopped
• ½ small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ cups canned crushed tomatoes
• 1½ teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

If you don’t have a food processor, you can chop each of these ingredients by hand, and then use a blender or immersion blender to mix the chopped ingredients with the tomatoes, vinegar, and olive oil. If you have some kind of vegetable chopper, that would make this job even quicker. (See kitchen essentials for our recommendations.)

Pulse the cucumber in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat this process with the chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion, adding each item to the same bowl after chopping. (If you try to blend all the ingredients at once, they will mush instead of chop.) Stir in the garlic and return the contents of the bowl to the food processor.

Add the crushed tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the food processor and blend until you achieve a smooth consistency.

Refrigerate the gazpacho for at least 30 minutes before serving—overnight is even better, as the flavors will continue to develop.

Make It a Meal: You can make this a complete meal by adding cooked shrimp and sliced avocado to the soup just before serving. Gazpacho also tastes great with a Kitchen Sink Scrambled Eggs, Mexican Tuna Boats, and Chicken Meatballs.

✪variations For even more flavor, add chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, or other leafy fresh herbs just before serving. To give the gazpacho a kick, add 2 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. For a sweeter version, pulse the flesh from two mangoes in the food processor, then blend with the rest of the ingredients.