At a dinner party this summer, our friends made an amazing spicy cucumber gazpacho that I wanted to recreate. I decided it would be the perfect thing to take to jazz in the sculpture garden on a humid Friday night. But as luck would have it, jazz got rained out. But we still really enjoyed this soup. We ate it for dinner with some garlic bread, but you could also serve it as a light summer appetizer.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients (serves 2 for dinner, or 4 as appetizer)
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (original recipe called for jalapeños, but I didn’t have any so I substituted this)
Handful of mint leaves, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup chicken stock (could do vegetable stock to make it vegetarian)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Several drops Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Set aside a few pieces of chopped cucumber, pepper, onion, and mint leaves. These are just for garnish. Place the rest of the cucumber, pepper, onion, and mint in a Cuisinart. Add the cayenne pepper, mint, and garlic and pulse until it is a liquid.

2. Add the stock, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt and continue pulsing until everything is mixed and it is pretty smooth.

3. Chill for two hours. To serve, place in bowls and add a bit of garnish.