iamaneviltaco

Summertime is coming! With it comes the necessary bbq food / pot luck tastiness. I'm going to start with something a bit unorthodox. I figure everyone would expect me to start off with a post about how to properly grill a steak. Well, that's coming. First, though, I'm going to give you something easy and tasty, as well as refreshing, to take out to that first bbq. Gazpacho.


Gazpacho is a cold soup. Think of it more as a very wet salad. It's cool, refreshing, and takes full advantage of all of those amazing vegetables that are just coming into season. Also, it's a great vegan food, so it's safe to bring no matter where you're going.

ingredients
4 cups tomato juice
1 small red onion, minched
1/2 green bell pepper, deseeded and minced
1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and minced
1 cucumber, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 green onions, chopped
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is better)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 teaspoon basil (fresh preferred, if fresh use 3 tsp and chop it up)
salt and pepper to taste

optional:
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp (or thereabout) lemon zest (take a fine grater to the outside of the lemon and grate off the yellow part until you've got about a pinch.)

This one's easy. Put it all in a blender or food processor and blend until it's well mixed but still a bit chunky. Refridgerate for at least 2-3 hours before you eat it. Overnight is better. The longer it sits the more the flavors mix.

Serve it cold. For bbqs or picnics? Keep it in the cooler under the beer or something.