the owl and the olive tree

This was dinner yesterday. Well, half of dinner: I wanted tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, but my nostalgia soup (canned Campbells, and yes, judge me if you want) wasn't in the house. So with some help from Cooks Illustrated and some invention, I came up with this, which was ready in half an hour.

The herb I used was rosemary, because this time of year I have plenty of it. Another time of year I would use basil, or tarragon, or savory. If you're using one of those more delicate herbs, add it with the cream rather than before the heavy simmering.

Not a low-calorie tomato soup, but a lovely, comforting one.

( Tomato Soup )

So we got this whole big flat of heirloom tomatoes from the produce box. They are delicious, and we've mostly been eating them by making a salad of sliced tomatoes and a little salt. No other ingredients. Whenever we finish with the salad for the day, I put the bowl back in the fridge; the next day I slice up more tomatoes and toss them in with the leftovers.

Since tomatoes tend to weep liquid, especially when salted, by the end of the week I had a big bowl of tomato juice. So, gazpacho!

This is my 'made-with-what's-in-the-fridge' gazpacho, which accordingly is a bit variant. I had no bell peppers, so I subbed Anaheim peppers. I had no cucumber, so, for crunch, I added tomatillos and radishes instead. It's also more big pieces and less liquid than the gazpachos I've had (ie, it's almost like a very wet salad), although looking at gazpacho pics on Google Images, it looks like the almost-a-salad style is not uncommon either.

This gazpacho recipe, like most, is pretty easy because all it requires is chopping and mixing, and the active time it takes is maybe 15 minutes (although it does need to sit). Being gazpacho it is highly acidic and contains both raw green onions and raw garlic, but it's vegan and, assuming you don't use a gluten-y vinegar, gluten-free.

Anyway, recipe below the cut! This serves two as a meal (alongside bread) or four as an appetizer.

( A picture! )

( Recipe: Ad-Hoc Gazpacho )

(25 bonus points to everyone who understands why I used that icon with this post!)

...well, fresh except for the roasted red peppers. And no cooking required except for the pasta itself.

Vegetarian; vegan if you leave off the cheese.

( Summer pasta sauce )