Farm Fresh Veggie Bean Gazpacho

As mentioned in an earlier post, my first attempt at gazpacho was not a huge success. It tasted OK for a veggie soup but it didn't have the crisp, cold, fresh, and spicy flavor I associate with gazpacho. So, when my friend Valerie went on vacation and generously offered me her farm share again, I jumped at the chance to redeem myself.

Here's what I did...more or less:

• Coated the bottom of the stock pot  with EVO and added the following:
•  8 Tomatillos (husks removed and cut into fourths)
• A dozen various fresh tomatoes from the farm share and my landlord's neighbor
• Diced fresh red and yellow peppers
• One hot pepper (seeds removed and diced)
• 1/2 lb., I think, of fresh green beans (ends cut off and diced)
• One yellow onion (peeled and diced)
• A few shakes of dried turmeric
• About 10-12 fresh basil leaves from the deck (chopped up, natch)
• 1/2 bunch of chopped up cilantro leaves
• A few shakes of dried cumin
• 1/8 cup minced garlic
• I brought it to a boil, reduced the heat and simmered for about 30 minutes.
• Then I put the whole kit and caboodle into the blender one batch at a time and put it back into the stockpot.
• After it was blended, I brought it to a boil again, reduced the heat, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
• While it was simmering, I drained and adding the following into the blender or about a minute on medium blend:
• a can of black beans
• a can of white cannelloni beans
• a can of dark red kidney beans
• About four ladles of the blended soup
• After the bean mix was blended, I added it back into the stockpot, brought it to a boil again, reduced the heat and simmered it for a final 30 minutes.
• Then, I moved it to a plastic pitcher and put it in the fridge to chill.

Yum, yum, yummy, yummy, yum. I brought some to the beach today in a Thermos with Italian bread for dipping and it was perfect.