Lazy poolside, iced cocktail in hand, music calming in your ears. Sounds like a perfect summer? This will probably still be perfect, which is what we dream about while sweating in the office, taking the kids from one date to another or cleaning the apartment again.
But we can at least try to get closer to the ideal. If it’s not a cocktail, how about a cold soup that’s at least a bit reminiscent of a cocktail? Then we’ll solve the problem with lunch as well. And the whole thing is refreshing – especially when there’s no swimming pool nearby.
The classic among cold soups is Spanish gazpacho. Lots of tomatoes, a little bit of onions and peppers, all mashed, refrigerated, and enhanced with many different toppings for a healthy meal: finely chopped cucumber, crunchy peppers, boiled eggs, olive oil croutons, capers…incredibly simple, insanely refreshing, healthy Insanely delicious and insanely delicious.
Our version gets very little spice: with pungent celery, some chili juice and limes. And that now reminds us a bit of the Bloody Mary, the cocktail. But she’s naturally virgin – alcohol-free. After lunch we want to go back to the office, play with the kids, and drive to the next appointment in the car. And if the person on the chair is near the nearest pool, the more, the better.
Gazpacho doesn’t need many ingredients.
(Photo: Maria Holzmueller)
Celery Gazpacho Recipe (4 Persons):
- 1 kg of ripe tomatoes
- ½ green pepper
- ½ sweet onion
- 2-3 celery sticks
- Salt, pepper, herbal salt
- 1 pinch of chili powder
- Juice of 2 lemons
soup appetizer
- ½ yellow pepper
- ½ green pepper
- 2 boiled eggs
- capers
- ½ cucumber
- white bread cubes
- ½ sweet onion
Prepare:
Remove the stems of the tomatoes and mash them well with the peppers, onions, celery and spices until you get a homogeneous soup. Add lemon juice and season to taste. Chill the soup in the refrigerator for several hours. Add a handful of ice cubes to serve.
For the fillings, finely chop the vegetables, toast the white bread in the oven or in a frying pan with a little olive oil, chop the eggs and arrange everything in small bowls and serve with gazpacho.