Detox Monday
- At August 1, 2011
- By Lori
- In Soups
0
The heat that has settled in Chicago for the past few weeks has left me wanting to consume copious amounts of ice cream, fro-yo and smoothies. While those things are delicious and satisfying, anything consumed on a cone or through a straw does not constitute a proper meal in my book. So to beat the heat, I turned to Gazpacho yet again for a cool and refreshing summer dish. Plus, I had to make one more batch before the summer’s end. Cooking Light’s Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho has a wonderful smoky flavor and I love the slight thickness that the French baguette adds to the chilled soup.
Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho
What You Need
- 3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, cored and cut in half crosswise (about 3 lbs)
- 1 onion, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 (1-ounce) piece French bread baguette, cut into 2 slices
- Cooking spray
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 cups thinly sliced, quartered English cucumber
- 1/4 cup minced green onions
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
What To Do
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
- Brush cut sides of tomatoes and onion slices with 1 tablespoon oil. Lightly coat bread with cooking spray. Place bread on grill rack, and grill 1.5 minutes on each side or until toasted. Remove from grill.
- Place peppers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 8 minutes or until blistered, turning peppers after 4 minutes. Remove peppers from grill. Place peppers in a small paper bag; fold tightly to seal. Let stand for 20 minutes.
- Arrange onion on grill rack; grill for 10 minutes. Turn onion over. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill onion and tomatoes 10 minutes.
- Peel and seed peppers.
- Combine 2 tablespoons oil, bread, grilled vegetables, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and garlic in a blender; process until smooth.
- Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, cucumber, and remaining ingredients; toss.
- Ladle soup into bowl and top with cucumber mixture to garnish.
