Gazpacho

This recipe is perfect for hot summer days. The first time I ever tried it was my grandma's recipe, so it was the absolute best, but this recipe (adapted from "1000 Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World") is pretty darn good, too. It's very acidic, so it isn't for the faint of stomach, but it definitely is for you tomato lovers out there, as it calls for three different tomato products. Once again, this version is slightly changed from the original.

You will need the following ingredients:

-1/2 cucumber
-1/2 green pepper
-1lb (450g) ripe tomatoes
-1/2 yellow onion
-2 to 3 cloves crushed garlic
-3Tbsp olive oil
-2Tbsp white vinegar
-1 to 2Tbsp lemon juice (limes will do if you don't have lemons)
-2Tbsp tomato paste
-1-3/4cups tomato juice
-salt and pepper

I want to warn you ahead of time to make this recipe many hours in advance. Even a day in advance wouldn't hurt. It has to chill for a minimum of six hours, so plan ahead (I almost forgot I was going to make this yesterday - we ended up eating pretty late). Also, this recipe requires no actual cooking, ie: with heat. It's totally raw. I am not sure if this qualifies as an official "raw food" in regards to the "raw food movement" that is going on in some circles due to the tomato paste, so I won't label it as such.

Okay, commençons ! Let's get started!

First, you're going to want to grate up your cucumber with a cheese grater on a coarse setting. Then very, very finely chop up the green pepper. Set these two ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Next, chop up your tomatoes and onions. It does not matter how you do this because they are going to go in the blender along with your garlic, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and tomato paste.

It took me one lemon to get the necessary amount of lemon juice. Really, you could probably get away with a half a lemon if you're a really proficient lemon squeezer or if you have a juicer. I do not. This makes me sad.

So, throw all the above mentioned ingredients (pictured right here on the left) into the blender and blend it all up to a purée. Don't be shy. This is a soup, after all. Your purée should look something like this:



Hopefully, you can see that it's pretty smooth, but definitely still textured.

Once your purée has reached this state, add it to the bowl with the cucumber and green pepper and mix well. Add the tomato juice and mix again. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix once more!

Your soup should look like the picture on the right.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least six hours. Remember, there is no cooking (with heat) involved so you'll need to give the soup ample time for the flavours to blend, as well as time to cool. It is a summertime soup and it is just not good served any other way. If you have leftovers, I recommend freezing them and saving them for your next really hot summer day.

I also recommend serving with garlic toast if it isn't too hot to turn on the oven.

This is what your bowl should look like when you're done:
Enjoy!

THIS RECIPE IS:

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Boring version of recipe instructions:

Coarsely grate cucumber and very finely chop green pepper and put in large bowl. Chop tomatoes and onion. Add tomato, onion and garlic to a blender along with oil, vinegar, lemon juice and tomato paste and blend to a purée. Add mixture to the bowl and mix well. Add tomato juice and mix again. Season to taste. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours.

Waldorf Chicken Salad

This is a yummy salad adapted from "Salads" by Parragon Publishers. I have made a few changes, but it's essentially the same.

You will need the following ingredients:

-1lb 20z (500g) Gala apples, diced
-3Tbsp fresh lemon juice
-2/3 cup real mayonnaise
-1 head celery
-3/4 of a vidalia onion
-1-1/2 to 2 cloves garlic
-1lb 2oz (500g) cooked, cubed chicken
-pepper

This recipe is all about timing. There are two ways to do it: (1) The way that takes almost two hours or (2) The way that takes about 50 minutes.

Assuming the rest of you are like me (ie: you have a husband, a child to take care of, schoolwork to do, a house to [try to] keep tidy and - obviously - dinner to cook), I will present to you the strategic and concise way to do it!

You will want to start with dicing up your apples into approximately 1cm pieces, but don't get overwhelmed with the size. This is not a recipe of precision.

Squeeze out 3Tbsp of juice from a lemon (it took me one lemon) and scoop up 1Tbs of mayonnaise.

Add the apples, lemon juice and mayonnaise to a large bowl. Mix and set aside for 40 minutes. The mixture will look something like this:

So, now that you've set that aside, turn your attention to your chicken breasts. You will use 2-3 chicken breasts, depending on their size.

You can season the chicken breasts however you like. I just added a little olive oil (which I recommend doing so they don't dry out) and added a bit of salt and pepper. In the future, I will probably also use basil.

Pop the chicken breasts in the oven. It will take them about 40 minutes to cook through, so you can see how this timing really is very convenient.

Next thing you'll want to do is slice up your celery very thinly. The recipe calls for an entire head of celery and mine was pretty small, but it still made for a LOT of celery. If you think it's too much, that's just fine, the salad won't be ruined.

Slice up the vidalia onion into small rectangles (as pictured below) and once the apple mixture has been sitting for 40 minutes, add the celery, onion and garlic to the mix.

Once you have that all mixed up, add the rest of the mayonnaise (2/3cup - 1Tbsp) to the mix and stir it again.

Check on your chicken. It should have an internal temperature of at least 160°F (71°C), but I would recommend 170°F (76°C) and the official US government recommendation is 180°F (82°C). When you cut open the meat there should be no pink on the inside. This is not a steak, people. Do not cook your chicken to order. That's nasty.

For the finishing touch, cut your chicken up like so:

And then add it and mix it up with the rest of the ingredients and season with pepper (to taste) like so:
Et voilà! You have made a tasty chicken salad for your family to eat!

When we ate this I served it over a little bit of red lettuce. If you do this, I recommend serving it with garlic bread or adding a bit of seasoning or extra mayonnaise to it because it can get a little bland. You could also toast some bread and eat it as a sandwich. (My husband says the sandwich is better with the bread left untoasted. He is wrong)

Enjoy!

THIS RECIPE IS:

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Boring version of recipe instructions:

Place apples, lemon juice, 1Tbsp mayo in bowl. Set aside 40 minutes. Season chicken to liking and let cook until internal temperature is at least 160°F (71°C), preferably a bit higher. Slice celery very thinly and chop onion into thin rectangles. Add celery, onion, garlic to apples. Mix. Add remaining mayo. Stir. Add chicken. Stir.