a ray of sunshine

Sitting down to write about soup seems surreal given last week’s tragic events. My heart breaks for everyone in Dayton, El Paso, and Gilroy. Given the overwhelming senselessness, sometimes the only thing to do is to try to focus on something positive you can control.

It’s summer, and that means farmer’s markets. One of my favorite things to do on a warm Saturday morning is to grab a big cup of coffee, head off with my orange picnic tote, and fill it with fresh picked ingredients for a cool gazpacho. My recipe takes a fresh twist on this classic chilled soup. What’s paramount is that you use fresh picked tomatoes, ensuring that irreplaceable vine-ripe taste. 

With an abundance of farm fresh veggies my gazpacho’s secret ingredient is Clamato juice.  If you are unfamiliar with this 1960’s bloody mary substitute- it is a jazzy combination of tomato and clam juice. I then add a spoonful of ketchup for a hint of sweetness.

Start by chopping the tomatoes, yellow pepper, cucumber, and sweet onion into a uniform small dice. Place in a nonreactive bowl. Add the finely chopped garlic, jalapeño, and Italian parsley. 

Stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice, sherry vinegar, and Worchester sauce. Season with one teaspoon of Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Whisk together the Clamato juice and the ketchup. Stir the juice into the vegetables. Taste for seasoning. Add Tabasco to taste if desired.

Refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably overnight.

Shrimp and ripe avocado garnish this soup.

Ladle the chilled soup into bowls and top each one with two shrimp and a spoonful of diced avocado.

Until you can make this farm-fresh gazpacho with its subtle seafood undertones, perhaps the words of William Sloane Coffin might nourish you-

"May God give you grace never to sell yourself short

Grace to risk something big for something good

And grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth

And too small for anything but love"