How’s that for a name? I always loved the idea of a gazpacho, but couldn’t seem to find one that fitted my taste. It was always too sweet, not sweet enough, too spicy, not spicy enough. I’m preparing a little presentation about “Packing Up Summer Foods” and really, what’s better for a packed lunch, or a picnic, than a gazpacho right? So I decided to just start over and invent my own.

How summery does that look?

My criterias were simple: I wanted a soup that would be sweet, fresh with a bit of a bite to it. It had to be low calories, low fat, low carbs and finally, it had to be simple and quick to make. Litterally, I created this recipe at a cafe, sipping on a coffee and then brought it in my kitchen to try out and modify. It’s the first time I do it that way rather than invent as I’m cooking, and it was a lot of fun!

I love handling ingredients. Real food!

Not only it was fun, but it turned out to be absolutely delicious. Honestly, to my taste, it is the best Gazpacho I have ever had! I knew I wanted mango for sweetness, cucumber and cilantro for freshness, and a Serrano pepper for spiciness. Those were my start point, and here’s what I ended up with:

“Summer in a Bowl”  Gazpacho
4 servings

So good, and quick!

Ingredients
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 English cucumber, chopped,
2 green onions, chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1 Serrano pepper, minced (I remove about 1/2 of the seeds to cut spiciness)
1 mango, pitted, peeled, chopped
1/3 cilantro, coarsely chopped (to taste)
Juice and zest of 1/2 orange (I used cara, but navel would do)
3 medium tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

I like to mix veggies before processing.

Mix chopped vegetables (all but tomatoes*) in a big bowl. Process in batches in a blender or a chopper (see Tool Note), along with the orange juice, until it’s pretty homogeneous, but still slightly chunky.

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Can't have too much cilantro!

Add cilantro and orange zest, salt and pepper and process some more. If you are preparing it to serve the following day, or even much later in the day, stop there and refrigerate until ready to serve, or to pack.

Orange zest is smoother than lemon.

Just before serving (or packing), finely chop tomatoes, add to the soup, and mix. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Chopping by hand is prettier I think.

Nutritional Information* (about 1 cup): Calories 83; fat 0.6g; Carbs 19.5g; Fiber 4g; Proteins 2g.

Source: My brain!

*Nutritional information is calculated using various online calculators and given for informational purpose only. I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy.

Blending is faster, but you do lose the look.

* If you want to serve the soup right away, or if you don’t mind refrigerating the tomatoes (I try not to as it kill their taste) then just coarsely chop them and throw them in the blender with the rest of the veggies.

Tool Note: I used my trusty handheld blender with the chopped attachment for this. This one is very old  (6 years at least) and has been used and abused a lot, and yet it is still going. Honestly, I got rid of most of my kitchen “power tools” after I got this because I use this for everything.

My best friend in the kitchen!

It WAS pricy, I paid about 80 dollars and that was with an employee discount, but I absolutely would spend it again. I do smoothies (with ice), hot and cold soups, chop veggies, anything with this and on it goes. It also has a blender attachment (handheld style), and a whip attachment.

It has at least one more soup to go, right?

It IS starting to sound a little tired, and I’m already starting to look around for a decent replacement, but I’m afraid I might not find such a friend again ;o)

Let me know what you think. I’m totally open to ideas and suggestions, more than open I love it!  As always, my recipes are to be adjusted to your own taste but really, this is deliciously delicious!