Quick and Easy Gazpacho
1 large tomato or 2 medium tomatoes, quartered
1/4 yellow or red onion
1-2 cloves garlic (one should be plenty, but I LOVE garlic)
1/4 medium cucumber
1/2 green or red pepper
less than 1/2 habanera pepper (way less than 1/2 if you don't like spicy), seeds removed
juice of 1/2 lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
handful of fresh cilantro, stems removed
salt, to taste
I went to make salsa one day, was too lazy to chop everything by hand, and ended up with this great, easy gazpacho!
Just combine everything in a food processor and process until it's still a little chunky, but blended very well.
I tend to get finicky about the order I add things to the food processor, so I usually add the garlic, habanera, and cilantro first so I can make sure it's chopped up real fine. It's pretty important that the garlic and especially the habanera is REALLY fine, because a bite with a big chunk of habanera can make you weep.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Llike Storm, I too like this smoooooth and then like to throw in some chunky or diced garnishes - scallions are especially good as is finely diced celery and/or carrots. I also like to float thin radish slices on top. I'll sometimes make this recipe into a quite hearty hot-weather main meal by tossing in a generous quantity of red or white (cannellini) kidney beans.
A minced parsley garnish is also a nice addition to any version...
This is very good, especially if you like it spicy! My habanero plants aren't producing yet so I used 1/2 of a large jalapeño instead. I also added some Bragg's Aminos and thinned it with about 1/4 cup of filtered water. I blended the hell out of it because I like my gazpacho smooth rather than chunky. Garnished with chopped avacado and alfalfa sprouts....yum!