Recipe with summer vegetables

Gazpacho

Ingredients: tomatoes (fresh or canned), onion, garlic, zucchini, radish, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, any other crunchy vegetable

Preparing: Saute the garlic and some of the onions, add tomatoes (we used some of our canned tomatoes because the fresh ones are just beginning to ripen) and salt to taste. We add some of the zucchini to cook it for a few minutes, too. Blend this concoction with ice cubes for a quick cool (if you have more time to chill the soup, you can just add water or broth). Dice all the rest of the ingredients and throw in the gazpacho.

Eating: You can make the soup as chunky as you want it, adding as many diced vegetables as you choose. Serve with some crusty bread.

Dish history: With the summer bounty of vegetables and a heat wave across the Hudson Valley, we didn't want to get the kitchen too hot. This gazpacho preserves the freshness of all of the vegetables.