I had a little surprise yesterday when my husband brought home fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from his mom’s garden. She found pesticide- and GMO-free seeds from a tomato breeder in Bulgaria and had them shipped over. They were perfectly ripe and oh-so-satisfying to bite into a dense, sweet, juicy chunk! As the veggies were so ripe, this turned out to be quite a sweet, late-summer soup.
Since I was planning on doing an “end of the week, clean out the fridge” kind of dish, I took stock of what was left over and decided that gazpacho would be perfect.
However, with such beautiful veggies, I didn’t want them to end up pulverized in the food processor. So I brought out my handy-dandy Vidalia Chop Wizard and started a dicing frenzy. I made enough to feed a small army, so feel free to cut the recipe in half. My husband and I can polish off quite a bit ourselves, but will be taking some to a party this weekend and freezing the rest.
My husband couldn’t resist grabbing the Cholula sauce and giving it a few good shakes over the massive bowl of veggies swimming in the deep sea of tomato juice before us. Yes, Cholula on top of jalapenos and freshly ground pepper. This batch has quite a kick to it, but you can season yours to suit your palette.
I couldn’t think of a more perfect thing to make for the last week of summer. It will be nice when the north winds blow and there’s 3 feet of snow on the ground that we can pull this little slice of heaven out of the freezer to remind us of what’s just around the corner.
Ingredients (makes about 16 cups)
6 cups low sodium tomato juice
1 ½ cups sweet corn (fresh or frozen)
1 ½ cups diced onion (I used a mix of red onion and Vidalia)
2 cups diced cucumber
3 cups diced tomatoes
2 cups diced red bell peppers
1/3 cup diced jalapeno peppers (small dice)
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro (well-packed)
2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. Cholula sauce (optional)
Directions
1. Place all vegetables and tomato juice in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add as much jalapeno, salt, pepper and Cholula sauce as needed to achieve desired taste.
3. Refrigerate and serve chilled.
Victoria says
Oh this looks so delicious! I love gazpacho but I’ve never made it. I am going to have to try this!
Amy says
Thanks for stopping by, Victoria!
rika@vm says
Stunning photos of these tomatoes! I picked up some San Marzano tomatoes from my neighbor’s gardens and they were just beautiful during the summer. Mmm I haven’t made gazpacho lately except for Gena’s raw gazpacho with corn salsa! I love chunky bits and texture in my gazpacho!
Amy says
Thanks, Rika! I like my gazpacho chunky, too!
Annie says
So bright and colorful! You know you’re getting so many good nutrients with colors like that. And you’re right – perfect dish for the end of summer.
Amy says
Thanks, Annie. This is definitely a favorite end-of-summer dish!
Chitra Jagadish says
looks soo elegant and scrumptious…yummmm.. thanx for sharing the recipe..
Chitra Jagadish recently posted…Brown rice red lentils tomato- Instant dosa/crepes (Zero Oil)
Amy says
Thanks, Chitra!