First its Gazpacho, Then its Gone.

After driving home in Friday evening traffic with no AC in the blazing Georgia heat-after a week of sitting in at work in a tin nearly uninsulated building with virtually no AC in there either-all I could think of was something cold and refreshing to have for dinner last night so I started rummaging through the produce drawer in the fridge and the cabinets. I'd been eating salads for lunch all week so I wasn't really feeling that...then it came to me...GAZPACHO!


I love gazpacho! I am a cold food lover, especially in this heat. I'd like nothing better than to spend the remainder of the summer eating salads, sandwiches, hummus and dips. I love cold fried chicken with ketchup or ice cold shrimp cocktail. Shoot give me a plate of cold spaghetti and I'm a happy camper.


Look-I never claimed to normal or refined did I?


Anyway-I figured I make a batch of gazpacho up while I waited for my camera batteries to charge. There would be plenty to photograph for the blog later on, right?


WRONG. During the night we had a bit of a dramatic event here at the house-a sin my husband was in a car accident. He's fine-no injuries. Just a big headache is all and financial stresses. that being said-what do most of us do when we stress? We eat. We binge. We wallow and drown our sorrows in our food.


I reached for the gazpacho like it was a bottle of vino or a pint of Godiva Chocolate Raspberry Truffle ice cream. I ate and ate and ate until I had so much acidic tomatoes that I had a lump in my throat from reflux. That was some great gazpacho.


So here's a picture of what's left of the gazpacho:




The sticky frog is there for artistic affect.


...and the recipe...

Binge Inducing Gazpacho



1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp EVOO
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 /2 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
a couple of dashes of hot pepper sauce (I used Louisiana Red Hot)
kosher salt



Put a little under half the can of tomatoes, along with the water and oil into a blender or food processor until soupy. Pour into bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir and then season with a bit of kosher salt until you reach the flavor you enjoy. Put in the fridge. Eat. Yum.