Cold Soups

Cold soups are widely consumed in the southern European countries during the hot summer months. In Portugal, vegetable-based cold soup is referred to as Gaspacho. Here in North America, it is best know as a soup from Spain. Regardless, there are many versions of Gaspacho, or if you like Gazpacho.

Gaspacho is one of my all-time favourite soups and I could eat this anytime of the year, but right now there are cucumbers in the garden and this is the best time to take advantage of the produce at hand. I'm took a detour from the tradition European recipe to try twist on Alton Brown's version because of the addition of cumin and lime to the traditional recipe. Love these two flavours! I was lucky to have cucumbers, red onions, parsley and basil from the folk's garden for this recipe. Still waiting for tomatoes that are taking their sweet time getting here.

My Twist on Alton Brown's version:

2 cups of diced cucumbers
1/2 cup of diced red onions
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
4 large fresh basil leaves chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 peeled and seeded tomato
1 cup of vegetable juice (or tomato juice)
1 tablespoon cumin
Juice of 2 limes
Freshly cracked sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of gluten-free worcestershire sauce

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, remove about 1 1/2 cups and process in the food processor, add back to the diced vegetables and chill.