I like all kinds of soup - canned, homemade, leftover, meaty, veggie," noodlely" - my faves include french onion, broccoli cheddar, cool cucumber (made by Tim), and gazpacho.
Now with that being said... I've only had gazpacho a two times in my life - in Charleston and on a cruise. I always thought "whoa, it's so complicated... it's such a sophisticated soup" HAHA... little did I know gazpacho is pureed veggies with some seasoning. Homemade French onion is much harder and more time consuming. I was inspired by all the fresh, local veggies at Saturday Market downtown Augusta to make gazpacho. I was a little overwhelmed by the volume of recipes out there. Some from Spain, Mexico, South America..... how was I to decide???
But, alas, I went to the Pioneer Woman for a good basic recipe....
Of course I made changes to suit my palette and preferences... I added a mini pepper and some squash to the veggies, put my cilantro in the blender, added ALOT more hot sauce, and blended most of my veggies (I don't like chunky gazpacho,even though I've only I had it twice). OH and also... After tasting to make sure my seasoning was good, I knew it needed something else. I had the bitter, sweet, acidity, savory... but it needed tangy/citrus/sour. I had the lime out to give the bowl a lil squeeze before serving but the whole thing needed it. It was perfect, exactly what was needed!!!
**I've learned to place kabobs/skewers at an angle on the grill - prevents them from falling between the wires.**
Enjoy!!
