It's tomato soup served ice cold!

I love gazpacho. It tastes like summer. But the funny thing about making your own farm-fresh gazpacho is that the ingredients aren't really at their peak until late August or September. It's almost like nature is pointing and laughing at you, because right when you're ready for fall, it is giving up the summer bounty. Luckily, gazpacho-wise, it is usually boiling hot and humid in DC well through September.

I used to think that I had to really earn the deliciousness of gazpacho by chopping every ingredient by hand into a teeny tiny dice. And I did that lots of times. But then I went to my friend Kathryn's house and she had made the gazpacho from Barefoot Contessa. I was a little skeptical and judgy, because I knew Barefoot's recipe involved a food processor. But, alas, it was still chunky and delicious! I was won over. It's now my go-to gazpacho guide.

Gazpacho
Serves 4-5

1 cucumber (not the waxy skinned kind, the long and skinny kind), halved and seeded but not peeled, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cored and seeded, cut into chunks
4 tomatoes (I used heirlooms: 3 green zebras and a Mr. Stripey), cut into chunks
1 red onion, cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves, chopped
24 oz. tomato juice (3 cups)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon salt
fresh black pepper, to taste

Put each vegetable into the food processor one at a time. Pulse until it is finely chopped. After you chop each veggie, toss it in a big bowl. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Chill before serving.