Grandiose Gazpacho

Rita~'s Note:

High Voltage! Refreshingly Thick! and Intoxicating! You can skip the Booze if need be! But on the other hand you can dip the rim of the chilled glasses into pepper vodka then salt seasoned with paprika and cayenne pepper. Can also Garnish with a nice extra large grilled SHRIMP.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 (28 ounce) can contadina diced tomatoes with garlic
• 1 small vidalia onion , chopped
• 1 red pepper , chopped
• 1 English cucumber , unpeeled,chopped
• 1 clove garlic , crushed
• ¼ cup cilantro , chopped
• ½ lemon, juice of
• ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• lots pepper
• 4 -6 fluid ounces peppar vodka , to taste (optional)

Garnish

• lemon slice
• celery rib
• cilantro leaf

Directions:

1. Rinse do not dry 4-6 wine or martini glasses and spoons and put into freezer to chill.
2. Put everything but vodka in blender and blend till almost smooth.
3. Check seasoning and adjust to taste.
4. Chill till nice and icy cold.
5. Pour into frosted glasses rimmed with seasoned salt.
6. Top with vodka and garnish with slice of lemon, celery stalks and or cilantro leaves.
7. Ice can be added to mixture in blender for a more liquid drink.
8. Meanwhile iced spoons will keep the soup nice and cold while eating.
9. Serve in Chilled Wine Glasses with Chilled Spoons.

Reviews

[Kimke]

This was good, a bit too lemony for my taste--i might reduce the lemon. The vodka though was a really FUN touch, this would make a nice party food/drink or appetizer. I also think it would be excellent with fresh tomatoes!

[Mirj]

To tell you the truth, when I first chose this recipe for Zaar Tag, I thought I was making a soup! I didn't even realize until I totally read through the whole thing before starting that I was making a drink. There really was no reason to make up a batch of drinks, so I made this into a gazpacho smoothie. I didn't have any pepper vodka in the house, so I used lemon vodka instead, and just a bit to give the drink a kick. I went out power walking with a friend, and when we came back we had a tall glass of this "gazpacho". Very refreshing! Good thing I held back on the booze, or we would have undone any good we did ourselves on the walk!