Garden Gazpacho

This is so cooling and refreshing in the heat of summer when you just can't bear to eat hot food, and can't stand the idea of heating up the kitchen by turning on more than a blender. I got the recipe from a very nice Spanish man who ran the coffee cart outside one of the buildings at my college. He did a booming business in icy cold cups of gazpacho.

• Ready In: 5 mins
• Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

• 4  medium  ripe tomatoes
• 1  small cucumber
• 2  garlic cloves
• 1  red bell pepper
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup olive oil
•  red wine vinegar
•  fresh parsley
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Chop tomatoes, cucumber and bell pepper into small chunks, and place in the blender along with garlic and parsley. Puree, adding olive oil in a thin stream. Depending on how much water is in the veggies, you may need more or less.
2. When it reaches the consistency you like, season with vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and chill thoroughly. Four hours is best, but mine hardly ever makes it that long.
3. To serve, you may like to put this in a pretty bowl and garnish with more parsley, dollop of sour cream, or a few lemon wedges. I still drink it out of a paper cup, just like I did when I got it from the nice coffee cart man.