The best heatwave food - Gazpacho!

GAZPACHO- Is it a soup or a salsa or a salad?

I don't write a lot of recipes for a couple of reasons.  One because I hardly ever measure anything unless I am baking and the other is that I generally make classic time tested dishes.  But I decided to write this recipe because it's close to traditional but the way I have been making it for a few years and it's been a go to every summer.  Gazpacho is a classic Spanish dish that is made with just a lot of knife skills and some refrigeration.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Green Onions
• 2 tbsp Red Onions
• 2 tbsp Yellow Onions
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• 1 tsp Jalapeno
• 2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar or Red wine vinegar
• 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lime
• 2 tbsp Cilantro
• 2 Tomatoes- on the stem or heirloom
• 2 Cucumbers
• 1/2 a Green Pepper
• 1 rib of Celery
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp pepper or to taste
• 1 cup of Clamato Juice or tomato juice
• 3 Dashes of Cholula hot sauce - optional

DIRECTIONS

Squeeze the lime into a large bowl and you can use the zest if you like.  If you don't have a lime you can use a lemon and put it into the bowl.

Grate 2 garlic cloves with a microplane or finely chop and add to the lime juice.

Finely chop about a quarter of a jalapeno.  I used 4 slices of one and used the end where there were less seeds.  Add to the bowl.

Add the Sherry Vinegar or Red wine vinegar, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and mix the ingredients.

Chop the green onions into a fine dice, chop the red and yellow onions into a small dice as well and add all of the onions to the dressing in the bowl.

I didn't peel my tomatoes and this is a great time to use soft tomatoes because they break down anyway.  I used tomatoes on the stem and diced them.  I left the seeds as well but you could peel and seed them if you like it smoother.

Finely dice the green pepper, cucumber and celery and add to the bowl.

Finely chop the Cilantro and add to the bowl.  

Mix all of the ingredients.

Pour the Clamato Juice over the vegetable mixture until it covers all of the vegetables.  If you like it less thick add more juice.  I like it chunky and the vegetables break down as it sits in the fridge.

Taste for flavour and then add the salt and pepper to taste.

Let sit in the fridge for at least a couple of hours for the onions and tomatoes to break down and mix the juices.

Serve in a glass or bowl and add a sprig of cilantro for garnish and you can drizzle with olive oil.  If you don't add bread which is in a traditional Spanish Gazpacho I would suggest you garnish with Croutons.  I prefer the Gazpacho like a chunky soupy salsa.

This is great for really Hot summer days because you don't have to cook anything and it can stay in the fridge for days and still be great.  This is one of my friends favourite things that he asks for in the summer.  It's a winner.