Summer dreaming: gazpacho

Marilee recently mentioned gazpacho, and it reminded me of two things: 1) I am really looking forward to garden season (known as summer to some other people) and 2) I need to replace my blender carafe which unfortunately jumped off the baker's rack onto the slate floor one day while we were eating brunch.

My idea of gazpacho is like chili or gumbo - there are as many different recipes as there are cooks, yet we recognize it when we see it. The basic idea is this: tomatoes and a bunch of other fresh veggies are blended and served cold.

I like pretty food, so I like to make a semi-deconstructed gazpacho that goes like this:

1 jar (or 15 ounce can) of roasted tomato sauce (mine is from last year's garden)
1+ nice, ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 or less red onion, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, washed
juice of a lime
1/2 -1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2-1 red pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste

1. Set aside the chopped tomatoes and enough of each of the diced other veg for garnishing each serving.

2. Put everything else in the blender and blend to smoothness.

3. Pour into bowls or soup plates.

4. On each serving, display some of the non-blended chopped veggies. This is the deconstructed part. I tend to arrange in sectors, like pie wedges, the onion, cuke, peppers, and sprinkle the whole thing with cilantro leaves. If you have some avocado, it is nice to put some avocado wedges in as well. A small dollop of sour cream provides nice color contrast and creaminess, too.