big chill

Tomorrow night is essentially a soup and salad supper with a few embellishments.

One of the best things about serving gazpacho is that it really should be made in advance. It needs about a day in the frig for all the flavors to

properly meld.

Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s. They have so many components that allow you to compose a beautiful dish with a minimum of effort. In this case a salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, roasted baby beets and candied walnuts.

A do-ahead on your own is the emulsified dressing. It actually can be made several days in advance.

This morning I’m making the gazpacho. Try to get homegrown tomatoes (don’t worry about how they look- it’s their fresh summer taste you’re after). Because this is basically a chopped soup try to keep all of the vegetables to a uniform dice (and the jalapeño and garlic to a uniform mince).

This recipe has two secret ingredients. Instead of the usual tomato juice I substitute Clamato juice, to it I add a tablespoon of ketchup for a hint of sweetness.

The dressing owes its nuttiness to the addition of walnut oil and it’s brightness from a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice and herbs from my garden.

Tomorrow morning I’ll assemble the tart. I couldn’t find any young onions (they look like oversized scallions) so I am going to use leeks.