Summer Meals in Arizona: Gazpacho

About a week or so ago, I posted about making spring rolls as our first attempt at keeping the oven off during this hot AZ summer season. Today, I am excited to tell you about gazpacho! First off, it is fun to say. Win. It is also extremely easy to make. Win. We didn't have to turn the oven on. Win. And last but not least, it has tons of fresh veggies. Win. Win. Win!

The first time I ever had gazpacho was at my sister-in-law's house. Candyce is a great cook and likes to make fresh things. I think we also had it during the summer, but I am not sure. Anyway, it was one of the first summer meals that came to mind. I was super excited to find out that it was also very simple to make and didn't require any random ingredients. I looked on pinterest and google for a few recipes and finally decided on this one. I just used it as a guide and changed a few things, but I used all of the veggies suggested. I didn't add any sugar, the tomato juice, or the Worchestire sauce (though I could see how this would add a nice dimension). I also didn't use tabasco, as I generally don't like the flavor.

The first step I took was chopping up all of the veggies: cucumber, red onion, red bell pepper, celery, tomatoes (I didn't peel the tomatoes which didn't seem to matter), chives, and parsley.

All the ingredients. 

I then added all of them to a large bowl. I added to the bowl the 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic.

How delicious does that look?!

I mixed it all together since I knew I was going to have to process it in batches (I don't have a huge food processor; a blender would work also!) and I wanted it to have an even flavor. Then I started processing it. I only had to do two batches which was awesome.

My only adjustment to flavor was adding a little kick. Since I didn't use tabasco, I decided to throw in some Tapatio hot sauce. This added a great little kick to the soup. Then it went into one large pyrex container and into the fridge! The best part is, dinner is ready for tomorrow! Love that!

Wait a day for all the flavors to really blend together! Can't wait!

The best part is dinner is ready for tomorrow! Love that!