Spicy Cucumber Gazpacho

I LOVE gazpacho! Am I alone in this? I’m always amazed that so few restaurants offer it, especially when the temperature soars unmercifully in the summer. If LunaCafe were a brick-and-mortar, versus virtual, café, I would serve a different gazpacho every week all summer long. How fun would that be?

It would be easy to do too. I have at least six favorite gazpacho recipes I could share with you right now, for instance. And I plan to make this a gazpacho summer, so will have even more by September.

Cucumber, Parsley, Mint, Lemon & Garlic for Spicy Cucumber Gazpacho

You’ve probably guessed that one of the reasons I love gazpacho is because it’s NOT fattening. Eat, drink all you want. It’s also sensationally satisfying with BIG flavor. And even though I would never add a quart of tequila (or was it vodka?) to my gazpacho, that’s what Carmen Maura did in the movie, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and it worked for her.

So here you go. Whip this up for your Memorial Day festivities, and let me know if you want me to keep the gazpacho recipes coming. Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Fennel Gazpacho anyone?

Diced Cucumber, Red Bell Pepper, Green Onions & Lemon Zest for Spicy Cucumber Gazpacho

Spicy Cucumber Gazpacho

Here is a spicy, chilled soup with vibrant color and over-the-top flavor. It just doesn’t get any fresher tasting than this. I love serving this soup in small glasses as a prelude to a casual summer meal or simply as an afternoon pick-me-up. It really sparks the appetite.

2 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped (4 cups chopped)

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, deribbed, and chopped

3 green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded and deribbed (use disposable gloves)

small handful Italian parsley, large stems removed

small handful spearmint or lemon verbena leaves

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed

½ cup chicken stock, or water, plus additional

¼ cup cold pressed olive oil

2 tablespoons natural-process red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

several drops of Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce, to taste

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Garnish

¼ cup diced English cucumber (with peel)

¼ cup diced green bell pepper

coarsely grated zest of 1 lemon

6 small tips of fresh spearmint or lemon verbena

Put the cucumber, bell pepper, green onions, jalapeno chiles, parsley, spearmint or lemon verbena, and garlic into a blender and liquefy.
Add the stock, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt. Pulse to combine.
Taste and adjust the balance of salt and lemon juice if needed.
Adjust the thickness of the soup by adding a little more chicken stock if needed.
Chill for at least two hours.
Just before serving, pour the soup into individual cups, and then sprinkle each with a bit of diced cucumber, red bell pepper, and lemon zest. Top each serving with a tiny sprig of spearmint or lemon verbena.

Makes 2 quarts; serves 6.

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Tags: chilled soup, cold soup, cucumber gazpacho, lunacafe, SMS Bradley

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Soups | Bisques | Chilis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

By Susan S. Bradley

jennieanniedot

November 6, 2009 at 8:05 pm

I’m so glad I found this…going to make it tomorrow… it’s still hot in Las Vegas anyway! I had to find something to do with the 3 large english cukes that were chopped up all at once by an enthusiastic housekeeper I am SO with you on LOVING gazpacho…it’s one of my favorite foods.
By the way, I just found you so I have not read your blog much. Ever used a Blendtec? I am about to buy one. I’m trying desperately to get my kids to eat more greens, so I’m going to try strawberry smoothies with spinach leaves mixed in. Your thoughts?

sms bradley Reply:
November 16th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Thank you Jennie! I haven’t used a Blendec. I’m assuming it’s a juicer? A book you might find interesting (I LOVE it) is The Flavor Bible. You can look up strawberries and see if spinach is a match.

Now I can well imagine fresh strawberries in a spinach salad with a fruity vinaigrette. Yum! But blended together sounds problematic. For one thing, red and green are perfect color complements, meaning that when they are mixed they make gray. Not a very appetizing color. That fine art degree comes in handy for the weirdest things sometimes.

#1295

radar

June 17, 2009 at 1:01 pm

This is great! Better than the cucumber soup I so loved! Thanks.

sms bradley Reply:
June 20th, 2009 at 7:46 am

Thank you Radar! I’m now officially addicted to this soup.

#631

Donna Binbek

June 8, 2009 at 7:27 pm

I love cucumbers and made this soup for my family tonight…EVERYONE LOVED IT and my kids had 3 bowls each of it! Thanks so very much for sharing. I did do something a tad different though; I used vegetable stock instead of the chicken stock to preserve the fresh veggie taste. And I am a beef bacon fiend so I crisped some up and crumbled it on top and added a couple of drops of organic 1st cold press EVOO, truly wonderful and we will have it again soon! I also put the finished soup into a ziplock freezer bag and placed in the fridge for quicker chilling. Thanks again, I look forward to trying your next recipe!

sms bradley Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

Wow, kids loved it too? I wasn’t sure it would appeal to kids, so this is great news. Thanks so much!

#594

Kevin

June 8, 2009 at 6:00 am

I like the sound of cool and refreshing cucumber soup!

sms bradley Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

Thanks Kevin! Do give it a try if you get a chance. It’s almost addictive.

#589

the wicked noodle

May 27, 2009 at 3:28 am

This looks healthy and refreshing! I love that there’s some spice in it, too. You always have such fantastic recipes!

the wicked noodle´s last blog post..three burgers…by bobby flay

sms bradley Reply:
May 27th, 2009 at 9:11 am

Thanks so much!

#544

hungry dog

May 26, 2009 at 8:54 am

This looks so pretty–not to mention delicious. Like your blog.

hungry dog´s last blog post..Strawberry, rhubarb, ceviche

sms bradley Reply:
May 31st, 2009 at 10:03 am

Thank you!

#538

Jeff

May 26, 2009 at 8:40 am

Looks forward to the roasted red pepper one because I love everything roasted.

Love this time of year because of the amazing fresh produce and cooling flavors.

Jeff´s last blog post..Grilled salmon with dill caper vinaigrette and challenge 2 of BBA

sms bradley Reply:
May 31st, 2009 at 10:05 am

Oh me too! Too early for bell peppers here but soon they will be flooding the farmers markets. The Red Bell Pepper Gazpacho will be one of the first dishes on my list when bell pepper season begins. Stay tuned…

#537