With this super hot summer in Kentucky and Alabama, Robyn and Scarlett enjoy a cool summer treat: a chilled gazpacho! You can make it ahead and leave it in the fridge until needed on the hottest days. Of course, it is so delicious you will want it at once. They remember the first time they had it in Louisville in the 80s. Scarlett had come back from a trip to England with her husband. They met a girl from Louisville on the plane home. She had been in France on vacation for six weeks and headed home. They were both shocked that she had 6 weeks’ vacation. It turned out that she worked for a European firm and that was the norm there. The three struck up a conversation on the flight and she and Scarlett’s husband played backgammon through the trip to Louisville. After arriving safely, she invited them to her house for a homecoming party where she served this recipe for gazpacho. It was wonderful and the night spent with new people was amazingly fun. It set the tone for them to take part in the Louisville Newcomers Club and meet other new friends. That is where Robyn and Scarlett became friends for life. Their advice…go where you haven’t gone, meet people you do not know, and eat food you have never tried.
Summer Gazpacho
Chilled — serves 6 to 8
Ingredients- 4 cans diced tomatoes
- ½ can tomato juice
- 1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
- ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 large precooked cooled shelled and deveined shrimp per person
Place the tomatoes and juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeño, garlic clove, olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add the shrimp per person before refrigerating the mixture.
Cover and chill for 2 hours and up to overnight. Serve cold on the hottest summer days.
80s trivia and fancy suggestions on menus and what we wore!