summer garden gazpacho

Two weeks ago while visiting Noel and Danielle at Black River, I picked up a forty pound box of #2 cucumbers that were going to be composted. According to the North Carolina Cucumber Outline, the grades for cucumbers –

“ …are U.S. Fancy, U.S. Extra 1, U.S. 1, U.S. 1 Small, U.S. 1 Large, U.S. 2. Cucumbers are graded on their color, size, form, diameter and defects.”

US #2 are the least desirable because they are off color, have bends, nick, scratches, rough spots, etc. The cucumbers in the box looked fine to me – I’m not about to pass up free local food, #2 or not.

After making 14 quarts and 7 pints of dill pickles, I still had about 20 pounds left. I gave 10 pounds away, which left me with enough for another project. So yesterday I made some gazpacho.

Digging around in the fridge, I found most of the necessary ingredients for the cold soup. I took a can of tomatoes from the cases on top of the cupboards, a handful of cherry tomatoes from the co-op garden (5 miles), a big cucumber (45 miles), an on-its-way-out green pepper (45 miles), some scallions from Linda Kerr in Rocky Point, NC (19 miles), some elephant garlic from John and Belle Shisko in Holly Ridge, NC (34 miles), some basil from the yard, and some other seasonings from the bottomless seasoning cupboard.

Here is how to make a very simple summer gazpacho –

1 – Puree a can of tomatoes (or 6 fresh slicers) and 3 cloves of garlic together in a blender or other mixer.

2 – Add chopped bell pepper (any color and size that you have), a half cup of chopped scallions or any other onion, a chopped cucumber (remove the seeds if you want), 1/3 cup of basil, 1/4 oil (whatever you have – if you don’t have oil, skip it), 2 tsp salt and some pepper to taste.

3 – Use the “pulse” on the blender to reduce the chunks a bit.

4 – Empty into another container and refrigerate for a day to let the flavors blend.

5 – Serve cold with bread or crackers. Many people like this soup with cheese, so sprinkle some cheese if you have some. I used some Nature’s Way (29 miles) goat mozzarella with mine.