Gazpacho

Although I was pretty upset at having been awakened at 6:30 by the mattress company calling to announce they'd be delivering my parents' new mattress in an hour (which of course meant that the doorbell woke me again an hour later!) it was nearly balanced out because my parents took the time to go to the Farmers Market after the delivery. They came home with a bunch of fresh veggies, so -- with my dad's help, because I can't cut with my fingers bandaged -- we made gazpacho soup.

Gazpacho is a traditional cold Spanish soup. When I lived in Spain, I only had it once. I remember coming home from class, nearly sweating through my clothes and sitting down to tortilla española and pouring the cold gazpacho over the top. My recipe does not quite measure up, but here's how I do it:

Cut tomatoes in quarters and put them in the blender. You'll probably need some liquid to get the blending started so use a little balsamic or red wine vinegar or tomato juice if you'd prefer it not be so tart. Blend enough tomatoes to that about 2/3 to 3/4 of the blender is full. Then I cut other veggies in large pieces that are still a manageable size for the blender. I like cucumber, red/green/yellow pepper, onion, carrots, and fresh garlic cloves, although other forms of garlic work fine. I have no exact measurements so I just dip a spoon in and stop when it tastes right. Chill the soup and serve with salt (optional) and diced veggies (also optional).