This is a refreshing cold soup that is particularly good as a Summertime meal or a nice starter to a bigger dinner. You can adjust the heat as necessary depending on the tolerance level of those who will be eating it.
Ingredients
4 to 5 Medium Tomatoes, Diced
1 Medium Cucumber, Peeled and Diced
2 Cobbs of Corn
1 Red Bell Pepper, Diced
3 Green Onions, Chopped (or ⅓ Cup Sweet Onion Diced)
1 Poblano Pepper, Roasted and Diced
1 New Mexico or Anaheim Chili, Roasted and Diced
1 Mango, Diced
1 to 2 Jalapeño or Serrano Chilis, Minced
1 to 2 Tablespoons Cilantro, Chopped Fine
Juice of 2 Limes
3 ½ to 4 Cups Tomato or Vegetable Juice
1 to 2 Teaspoons Honey
½ to 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
A Few Dashes of Tabasco Sauce
Salt (or Celery Salt) and Pepper to Taste
Chopped Avocado to Garnish
Directions
There are many ways to make Gazpacho, and some of the earliest, traditional recipes include adding and dissolving bread into the soup. (Never tried it that way. Seems weird.) But I approach it as salsa soup. Much of what I add is very similar to my basic salsa recipe with a few additions and some tweaks to the seasoning.
In a large bowl, add the honey. You can start with one tablespoon and then add more later if needed. Add the lime juice and then mix together to dissolve the honey. Add the diced bell pepper, onion, and Jalapeno/Serrano chilis and stir together.
Remove the husks from the corn and stand the cob on end in the bowl (a corn cob holder would be useful here to keep it in place). With a knife, cut downward on the edges so that the kernels cut away from the cobb. When all the kernels are off, take the back of that knife and scrape the cob to get all that additional corn goodness added to the soup. Repeat with the second cob then stir everything together.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Go easy on the Worcestershire and salt as those can quickly take over the dish. Taste the soup and add additional seasoning as needed. Note that if you are not using a low sodium tomato/vegetable juice, very little salt may be needed. I like using the celery salt to give the soup that little something extra.
For the roasted chilis, there are optional, but they add a nice richness to the flavor (more on roasting chilis here). If you choose not to roast them, just add one of the two chilis or half of each as you don’t want the soup too crunchy (and the bell pepper already adds some crunch). If you want, you can also roast the bell pepper and the Jalapeno/Serrano. But still add some fresh bell pepper in there for the crunch.
You can leave the mango out if you choose, but I find it adds a nice depth to the dish without bringing too much sweetness or fruitiness. The mango is a very versatile fruit and you will find that once you have added it to Gazpacho you won’t leave it out again.
As for the hot chilis, it’s fine to go easy on these in the preparation stage. I may add not Jalapenos or Serranos to the soup at all if I am preparing it for people who may not be as tolerant of heat. I will just chop some up and have them in a bowl on the side so that people can add what they want.
The avocado garnish is optional as well, but that’s another thing that really brings this dish together. I will usually dice up about half an avocado per bowl of soup (less if you are serving cups) and add it on top at the end. Some diced radish also goes well with this.
As with my salsa recipes, feel free to experiment and do your own variations. I usually check the veggie tray in my fridge and decide if anything there will go good in the soup. And while I prefer a chunkier end product, if you want to take the emersion blender to it for a finer consistency, feel free. You can also roast the tomato and onion to give it a richer flavor. Basically, the options are endless. But this recipe will give you a good starting point!