Gazpacho

I'm so lucky to have so many amazing, passionate and supportive people in my life. Just about everyone who is an active part of my life has something positive and motivating to contribute. I don't think too many people can say they are surrounded by such genuine people who have nothing but love and support to offer, so I consider myself very blessed. 

There are dozens of people to which that last paragraph pertains to, but this blog post will be dedicated to a certain one. My best friend Hope's mom, Joann (or Mama Jo, as Logan calls her, and what she will be referred to as from now on), has a passion for life that so many people lose along the way. Her passion for food is inspiring as well. She knows where all the best bakeries are, which restaurants have the most delicious dishes, and I know I can rely on her to know which specialty stores carry the obscure ingredients I may need. Mama Jo has always been supportive and excited about Resolution Kitchen from the beginning. She's been an inspiration for a couple recipes in here, like the roasted yellow pepper soup. She taught me how to make pesto (which I modified to this recipe), and has been fueling my sweet tooth and love for baking since she was the class mother in second grade. 

As a token of support, love and inspiration, Mama Jo recently bought me my first food processor- a Kitchen Aid in buttercup yellow (she knows me so well). I absolutely love every feature of the product, and have been using it every day. Mama Jo had one request- gazpacho. She had a delicious bowl of the cold soup at Michael Anthony's, one of her favorite restaurants in Wading River. I set to work, using fresh tomatoes and herbs from my garden, and turned out a huge batch of gazpacho. Thanks Mama Jo!!

Ready to chop my fresh garden herbs.

My new, oh so fancy food processor

Gazpacho

Serves about 8

• 8 roma/plum tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 2 scallions
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 4 cups tomato juice

1. Remove the skins from the tomatoes: Throw them in a pot of boiling water for one minute. Remove from the boiling water and into a bowl with ice water immediately. After a couple minutes the skin will peel right off.
2. Sautee the garlic.
3. Roughly chop the onion, pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, scallions and garlic. If you want to keep the recipe raw, skip the first two steps and start here. 
4. Add them to a food processor and pulse until just combined.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until combined but still a little chunky.
6. Refrigerate before serving. Serve cold.

I made this batch of gazpacho with my home grown roma tomatoes.
Does it get any fresher?