Quick Gazpacho
Here on the west coast we are in full summer heat and enjoying the bounty from the garden: fresh herbs and luscious vegetables just screaming… eat me, eat me So today on opening the fridge to grab a quick lunch it was obvious that I needed to choose something in the veggie department as I had purged all the cheese in an effort to fit into summer clothing. I usually have a selection of peppers as well as cucumbers and tomatoes and I wanted something quick as per usual I had waited until I was starving and about to gobble anything at hand – summer clothes be damned. So what do you make with just veggies? Seemed pretty obvious to me: Gazpacho. I had some great harissa oil from Olive the Senses to add just the right kick so we were off to the races and eating gazpacho in almost minutes.
6 medium ripe tomatoes
1 sweet pepper (yellow, red or orange) seeds removed and chopped
1 English cucumber chopped
½ medium red onion chopped
2 stalks celery
1-2 cloves garlic or several garlic scapes for a milder flavour
1 ½ tbsp. (or to taste) red wine, sherry or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce or harissa or hot pepper olive oil
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
Peel the English cucumber and if you don’t like the seeds, scoop them out with a spoon. I like the texture so tend to leave them in. Chop the other ingredients so that they will be small enough in the food processor. Add all the ingredients into the food processor and blend until the consistency is to your liking. I prefer to let individuals add their own salt but feel free to salt to taste. Refrigerate for several hours to let flavours meld or eat immediately.
Gazpacho is one of those summer dishes that is bright, refreshing and can be tarted up with just a few extra ingredients so that it meets whatever flavour craving you are having. I often switch between herbs such as tarragon, basil, chives and summer savory but you could also add cilantro or any other herb that you would normally use with tomatoes. Enjoy!
With this brilliant sunshine the theme of spring being just around the corner continues to light my life. After all the groundhog didn’t see his shadow and they never lie do they? Asparagus is a sure sign of spring and when I saw it sitting in Costco this week for only $5.98 for a kilo, I knew it was a sign.
For most of us, asparagus comes from the store or if you are really lucky, you planted some and patiently waited the 2-3 years for it to germinate and become something edible.
However, there is yet another way of securing fresh succulent asparagus. There are the most fortunate of us, those who grew up picking and eating wild asparagus – the only “real” asparagus. Picking asparagus in the desert is not for the faint of heart who have a phobia of snakes – especially rattle snakes. This photo below which appear to be growing only sagebrush, is in fact prime asparagus land in the interior of BC. The first spring that we were in Ashcroft a wonderful neighbour stopped by with big black garbage bags and invited my mom and I to gather asparagus. Personally I thought she was nuts, as I couldn’t see anything growing in that dry, barren land. Fortunately, I was wrong.
We headed into the dusty, cactus spotted hills with our garbage bags, hiking up and traversing the hill back and forth. Not long after we had filled the bags with nice fat pieces of asparagus. Contrary to the belief of many who prize the long skinny pieces of asparagus as tender, the fat short asparagus are the most tender and full of flavour. We would pick for hours until (usually my mom) would scream and run down the hill after discovering yet another snake. Of course that would finish me too and we would wait by the old VW bug until our much braver friend finished picking her patch. Much like truffle hunting, people are very secretive and protective about their asparagus patches. It has become much more difficult to harvest the wild asparagus unless you have a “friend” with a patch as many are now on private land, but I still taste the first asparagus of the season perfectly cooked and smothered in butter.
Being a little more conscious of my butter intake, and not having the “real” thing, I thought the next best thing would be a healthy green soup.
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