Lazy gazpacho

So this week, I was very lazy on the food front.  Maybe lazy isn't the best word for it so much as "summery."  Enter the cliche about no one wanting to spend time over a hot stove in the summer--now that domesticity is a routine and significant part of my life, I totally get that now!  I DON'T, in fact, want to always come home and just stuff something comforting and rich in my face after a long day.  I can put thought and planning into what P and I eat, which is lovely, although I pump him for ideas once in awhile.  So when I whined to him on Monday that I didn't know what to cook and it was too hot to cook anything (hoping he would relent on our pact to not eat out for the month of June, damn him and his discipline), my crafty fiance suggested gazpacho.  To which I instantly turned up my nose.
See, for being a foodie, I have a weird relationship with fresh tomatoes.  Cook them in any fashion, and I'm fine.  I even like the taste!  It's more that I can't stand the goopy, seedy stuff on the inside of the tomato.  But I've always had gazpacho that was basically squeezed tomatoes and seemed to have no other spicing besides salt and pepper.  Hence my reticence at making it.  BUT once I looked at a couple recipes and realized that if I make it then I can control how it tastes and its consistency, I made the tastiest gazpacho (for my tastes, anyway) I've ever had.  The recipe that follows is REALLY loose, and you should really feel free to play with it as you want.  But here goes.

Lazy girl gazpacho
1 1/2 cups tomatoes (I used grape)
1 cup cucumber, roughly chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1/8-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash tomatoes, and place a small saucepan with 2 cups or so of water over high heat.   While water heats up, take a paring knife and lightly cut an x on the bottoms of the tomatoes; they don't have to be deep cuts, just through the skin.  Take a bowl, and fill it with ice and cold tap water. When the water reaches a boil, dump the tomatoes in for about 15-20 seconds.  Immediately take them out of the boiling water, and dump them into the ice bath until they're cool enough to handle; this should take 1-2 minutes.  Gently peel off the skins of the tomatoes, and pop them into your blender.  Add the other ingredients, and puree until smooth.  Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.  Refrigerate until ready to serve, and enjoy!

Serves 2.

I really liked eating this with crusty bread and salad.  One possible variation is to peel the skin off the cucumber, it completely blends in but might give the soup a slightly different consistency.  Try it if you like, and let me know what you think.  Stay cool!