Gazpacho refreshing in summer

Gazpacho is often called a liquid salad with good reason as this cold soup combines raw summer garden veggies along with cucumbers, onions, spices and fresh herbs. Today in Spain, the soup is commonly puréed and chilled as a refreshing and nutritious drink for the whole family.

I developed this version with New World influences of Latin American flavors. It is easy to put together but does require a bit of knife work to dice ingredients for texture rather than simply puréeing them. The shrimp introduces a clean saltiness accented with Mexican spices, fresh citrus and herbs. You may substitute pre-cooked bay shrimp as well.

It is important that all ingredients are very cold when you put together for service. This makes a lovely starter for both brunch and warm summer cookouts.

GAZPACHO OF THE AMERICAS

YIELD: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

Soup Liquid

1 qt low sodium V8 or strained juice of ripe tomatoes

1 c strained tomatoes

1 lemon, juiced

1 lime, juiced

1½ t chili garlic Cholula hot sauce

1/8 t cumin, ground

1/8 t old bay seasoning

Salt and ground pepper to taste

Shrimp

5 qt water

1 lemon

¼ t old bay seasoning

2 scallion, green ends

2 leaves of celery stalks

½ lb shrimp, 31-40 per pound, peeled and deveined

½ c yellow bell pepper, small diced

1 c hot house cucumber, small diced

1/3 c red onion, very small diced

6 cherry tomatoes, sliced across

1 T Anaheim peppers, minced

1 T jalapeno pepper, minced

1 avocado, small dice

1/3 c cilantro leaved, lightly packed and then chopped

10 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Combine tomato juice and strained tomato with citrus and spices and refrigerate to blend flavors for at least two hours or overnight.

2 Combine spices and lemon with water. Bring to a boil. Add shrimp until pink and slightly firm (not hard). Remove shrimp with a handled strainer and briefly place in iced water to stop cooking process. Once chilled, dice and refrigerate.

3 Dive vegetable garnished and refrigerate.

4 Mince fresh herbs.

5 Add all vegetable and shrimp garnish and herbs to service bowls and pour soup liquid over garnish.

6 Serve with fresh lemon and lime wedge on the side.

7 Enjoy!

Manda Hudak is the Program Director/Chef Instructor at Flathead Valley Community College’s Culinary Institute of Montana. For more information, visit fvcc.edu/culinary