Talking Tour today

We fill our folders with a Needs/Wish list; list of Rapid City Programs; Volunteers of America, Dakotas brochures; current newsletter; business cards; and up-coming dates. Today for our Talking Tour, we served Gazpacho with tri-color chips and bottled water.

Morgan poses for the camera behind a row of gazpacho with chips and Nestle waters bottles

Gazpacho and Chips

Gazpacho
Garden tomatoes and plenty of'em (generously donated today by Eileen Leir)
2 zucchini
1 crooked neck yellow squash
1 medium white onion
1 bell pepper
1 c Bloody Mary mix (your choice of name brand but I suggest you read the ingredients to make sure it'll be flavorful)
salt & pepper
3-4 cloves roasted garlic, optional
fresh Basil, rough chopped


MOP:
Boil a pot of water large enough to fit two or three tomatoes at a time. The idea is to drop the tomato in boiling water for a minute or so, then remove to a bowl of ice water and the skin should just pop off. It doesn't always work just like that and it's fun to mash them with your fingers anyway. After you remove the skins in whatever manner you prefer, mash tomatoes in a mortar and pestle or a blender. I prefer the flavor of mortared tomatoes but there's something to be said for the simplicity of a blender, too.


I sauté the zucchini and squash till browned and then add to the tomato puree. Then simmer the onions over low heat until caramelized and browned. I like to add fresh cracked black pepper to the onions because peppered caramelized onions are very tasty, but you can add however you want really. Once the onions are the color I'm after, I slide the peppers on top. I just want to steam the peppers over the onions for a while, so I added the Bloody Mary mix to allow it to cook down as the peppers steamed.


Add the onions and peppers simmered in the BM mix to the tomatoes, zucchini and squash. Stir. Add garlic cloves if you're using them, then the chopped basil. If you used a mortar and pestle on the tomatoes, of course, you'd mash and grind the basil then, but if you pureed the tomatoes, just chop the basil. Don't puree the basil, please! 


I love cilantro, oregano, thyme and tarragon and occasionally add all those to the soup as well but didn't this time. I got the chips and water today from the Food Bank and got 8 servings for around $15 because I was able to use garden tomatoes. This is a great summer dish and should be served cold. Best if made a day ahead, and don't worry, there won't be any leftovers :)