A Summer Treat: Gazpacho!

Time for another recipe. This one is great for summer and can be made and kept in the fridge for days (in fact, it gets better with time - until it rots, at which time it isn't so good.) This recipe is pretty zippy but is mild if you leave out the jalapeno (though why would one?). It's also incredibly easy and quick. It's great for parties and quick lunches.

Pliny's favorite Gazpacho

This recipe serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
• 4 plum tomatoes (seeds removed)
• 1 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups low sodium organic tomato juice
  
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (if you use regular tomato juice, only add 1/2 tablespoon of salt)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 and 1/2 jalapeno peppers
• juice from one freshly squeezed lime

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Directions:

Chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into roughly 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess or you'll ruin it - each should be in a rough coarse consistency, not mush (2-3mm in size). It only takes a few pulses to get it right.

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large glass bowl (don't use metal unless you like an iron taste to your food) bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, jalapeno, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. It's passable straight away, good in about 4-6 hours and fab in a day or two. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Enjoy!