Gazpacho for people who don't have a garden
Get a hydroponic cucumber, a green pepper, a small red onion and a head of garlic. Get a 28-oz can of Hunt's diced tomatoes and a big jug of V8. You probably already have some olive oil, red wine vinegar, hot sauce and s&p.
Cut the cucumber, pepper and onion into small dice, 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Smash a few cloves of garlic (depends on how spicy you want it to be; I usually use 4 or 5) and mince them. Put all this into a big metal bowl (metal because it will get cold faster). Dump in the tomatoes and V8. Put in a couple of splashes of hot sauce--don't overdo it because people can add more at the table--and s&p to taste. Here is the important part: be generous with oil and vinegar--start with about 1/4 cup of each, then taste. You should get a good vinegar tang, so add more if you need to.
Chill overnight.
I hear that real gazpacho is thickened with bread crumbs but I don't believe it.
You use hydroponic cucumbers because they are virtually seedless and are pretty straight, which makes it easier to dice them. I happen to grow cukes in my garden, but I won't use them in my gazpacho because they are too much work. Ditto tomatoes, because I don't want to have to blanch and peel them (1); (2) it takes a lot of them because they are watery and have seeds you have to get rid of and (3) I'd rather eat tomato sandwiches with my garden tomatoes.
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