Gazpacho...tastes different every time

Here at Local Food Lady, you know that I rarely follow recipes. I merely "assemble" my food, and sometimes it turns out ok.  One of my favorite summer time dishes is gazpacho and it is so simple to make. The biggest challenge is waiting for the soup to chill and allow for the flavors to come together.

To make my gazpacho, I make sure I have the basics:

The makings of Gazpacho

• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• red onion
• feta cheese

And then I add on from there.  In this batch, I had the following quantities:

• 3 large tomatoes
• 3 cucumber (reserve 1 cucumber)
• 2 medium red onion (reserve 1 onion)
• 1 bell pepper
• garlic
• olive oil
• 2 cups watermelon, plus juice

Scrub and slice/chop all veggies, removing the seeds. I don't even attempt to do this with the tomatoes, since there are so many seeds.  Get out your blender, and add the chopped veggies and puree.  If you are having a hard time getting the veggies to "catch" on the blades, get a wooden spoon and push down some of the foods. Please do this when the blender is NOT running. Add your garlic and olive oil (just a few glugs).  Once the veggies are pureed, add the watermelon (plus juice) and blend more. If the gazpacho looks too pulpy, add a touch of water. 

Now, here's where it gets a little bit messy.  Get a large bowl and a mesh strainer.  Pour about 8 ounces of the blender mixture through the mesh strainer and push the liquid through the strainer with the back of a ladle.  Once the liquid has been squeezed through, discard the leftover pulp (I like to compost mine).  Repeat this process until the contents of the blender have been strained. 

Take the large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled.  Until then, dice up the remaining cucumber and red onion. When ready to serve the gazpacho, put some of the diced cucumbers and red onions in the bowl.  Cover with gazpacho, top with feta and olive oil. 

You may omit the feta to make this recipe vegan.  Also, I enjoy a dash of dill with my gazpacho.  Variations on gazpacho include substituting peaches for the watermelon, or omitting the watermelon completely.