Tomato Tease

When you live in the Pacific NW, it is fairly standard to agree summer is your favorite season.  Sure, people claim to love fall or spring, but really, I mean REALLY, everyone loves summer best.  The sun is finally out and we can put our raincoats away.  It is warm, but not humid. The vegetables and fruits are ripe and juicy. I mean, stop kidding yourselves with this fall stuff.

In other parts of the country, people may feel differently.  After visiting my grandma by the beach in Southern California a few weeks ago. I heard many people complain about their foggy and chili summer mornings

(Not demonstrated here, when the sun was happy and shiny.)

And certainly, on my trip back east people don’t love summer.  The humidity and the heat are oppressive. (Don’t even talk to me about the subway heat.) Although, it did produce the most wonderful sunsets.

But, there is one thing that they have that I have yet to see at home.

Sweet, flavorful tomatoes. In both places, I had newly picked, delicious tomatoes that had me dreaming of caprese salads, soups, sauces, and canning. I couldn’t wait to get home and see what two weeks away did to our tomatoes. So, I set out to make gazpacho first thing.  I headed to the store (because I missed the farmers’ market circuit), and found the Oregon-grown heirloom tomato aisle.  I asked the grocer which tomatoes had the most flavor and she got to slicing. I must have tried five different varieties – each resulting in an emphatic, “Meh.”   Watery, flavorless, might-as-well-be-winter tomatoes.

Once I make up my mind I tend to be a little inflexible and this tomato thing threw me. Instead of inventing a new recipe while standing in the produce aisle, I decided to make the gazpacho anyway. I plucked a variety of tomatoes from their bins, including some actually tasty cherry tomatoes, and decided to make the best of it. I am glad I did, because in 90+ heat gazpacho is an ideal dinner (and the next day’s lunch and dinner (and the next day’s…)).

I made a gazpacho once last summer. It was good, but it had this funny banana taste to it. I can’t tell you how a hint of  banana can ruin a perfectly good dish.  After some thoughtful consideration I decided it might be the cucumber’s fault, so I made some adjustments to the recipe.  This time I am banana free!

I served the dish the first night with some grilled shrimp and grilled bread; for dessert we had grilled peaches.  I think the idea of just serving a cold dish got to me and I had to warm it up a bit, with some char marks. The next night, I made mine with a grilled cheese.

With that, I deplore you, if you find any perfectly ripe, scrumptious tomatoes, (or even if you have to fake it) make a gazpacho.  You will thank me.

Gazpacho
Serves 8

3 lbs seeded and skinned* tomatoes, diced
2 tsp soy sauce
4 cups tomato juice
2 cups beef (chicken or veggie) broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cucumber, skinned, seeded and diced
2 zucchini, skinned and diced
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1/3 cup of red onion, diced
1/2 cup of basil, chopped finely
1 Tbsp of lemon juice
Toppings: Avocado, sour cream, shrimp, grilled bread
* To skin tomatoes – cut an X into the bottom of the tomato and place in a pan of boiling water for 15-20 seconds. Let cool and slip off the skins. Squeeze gently to remove seeds. For cherry tomatoes, wash and place in a food processor until pureed.

In a large, non-aluminum bowl combine the chopped tomatoes with the tomato juice, broth, soy sauce, olive oil, and vinegar. Taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper if necessary. Add to the sauce cucumber, zucchini, garlic, peppers, onion, basil and lemon juice. Stir until combined.

Take out three cups of the mixture and blend in a food processor or blender. Add everything back to the soup and stir. Taste again for seasonings, adjust, and then place in the fridge until chilled – about 4 hours.