I decided to make Gazpacho because I’d picked up a package of peppers on the day-old rack at the A&P and I had cucumbers and tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market in the refrigerator. Since I didn’t have tomato juice, I used a thick Salsa (Old El Paso, thick ‘n Chunky).
By itself, it’s thick enough to be good for people with swallowing problems–just a quick whiz in the food processor to take out the chunkiness and it would be ready as a dip. I, however, used it as the base for the Gazpacho. Since the classic Gazpacho uses bread, there’ll be a second thickener. Here’s the recipe:
Gazpacho
1 cup Thick’n Chunky Salsa or tomato juice
1 small cucumber, peelel
1 cup diced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
1/2 diced red onion (about a half a cup)
1/2 cup of white onions, chopped
1/2 large red pepper
1/2 large green pepper
1/2 large yellow pepper
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons of chopped parsley or
2 Tablespoons chopped basil
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and no chunks remain.
Add:
1 large slice of white or brown bread (I used whole wheat sourdough)
Blend again until smooth. Chill until ice cold and serve.
My gazpacho was quite thick, as you can see. And it’s a sort of brown color which is not too attractive, truthfully; but that’s because I used brown bread (duh!). On the other hand, it was very tasty. If this turns out to be too thick for you to swallow, thin it with tomato juice or water. For the rest of the family (those without a swallowing problem), add tomatoes, peppers, red onion finely chopped and serve cold
