It’s finally starting to feel slightly more like spring outside. Just slightly. But still, it already has me dreaming of all of the warm weather foods I treasure eating each spring and summer. I keep dreaming of rooftop BBQs. No I mean it, I actually wake up thinking about throwing parties outside in the sun with fun food. Yes, I know, I have a problem. Anyways, one of the food items I love making each summer is gazpacho. Here’s a simple recipe you can make yourself for dinner or serve as an appetizer at your next outdoor dinner party. I’ve also previously posted a spicy cucumber gazpacho recipe if you crave spice in your life.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients
1 loaf of french bread, or something similar
4 large and RIPE tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 cucumber, peeled
1 red onion, peeled
1 green or red bell pepper
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh oregano or 3 teaspoons dried oregano
2 gloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1. Prepare your bread by first cutting the loaf in half lengthwise so you have two open pieces. Then pull out the inside dough in chunks. You can throw the crust away (or save and turn into bread crumbs for something else). Place the bread in the bottom of a bowl.

2. Prepare your veggies by chopping the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and bell pepper into chunks.

3. Cover the bread with half of the veggies and top with salt, pepper, and oregano. Then cover with the remaining veggies and add more salt and pepper. Finish by drizzling olive oil and vinegar on top. Leave the bowl out at room temperature for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes, mix the ingredients in the bowl with a spoon. You now need to blend the ingredients with whatever device you have. We have a hand mixer, so we blended right in the bowl. You could also do it in a cuisinart or a blender. Depending on the size of whatever machine you use, you may need to do this in batches.

5. If you have a strainer, and prefer a smoother soup, you may want to run the soup through a strainer. We didn’t mind it having a bit more texture so we just left it as is. Once done mixing the soup, top with more salt, pepper, and vinegar to your liking.

6. Serve immediately. You can top it with some chopped veggies or herbs.