Abundant Garden Gazpacho

How many fresh tomatoes can you really eat or make into salsa when they all come on at once?  Here’s the best gazpacho I’ve ever tasted and it uses what’s plentiful in the garden right now.

ABUNDANT GARDEN GAZPACHO

2 cups each vegetable stock and tomato juice

2 Tbsp. each lemon juice and green taco sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped

3 green onions (including tops), thinly sliced

Fresh bay shrimp, optional

In a 3-quart pan over medium heat, combine stock, tomato juice, lemon juice, taco sauce, sugar, garlic salt, and pepper.  Leave uncovered and bring to a boil.

Stir in veggies.  Bring mixture to a boil once again, uncovered.  Remove from heat and cool.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.  Top with a sprinkling of fresh shrimp, if you wish.

Yields: Six 1-cup servings.

Head out to the garden: more tomatoes have ripened while you’ve been reading this post.