Early Summer Gazpacho

Okay, so my dear friend Sonia and I were doing a work session at her apartment yesterday and she served me a lovely gazpacho.  I LOVE gazpacho for its light, crispness and so the next day I made my own. I like a coarse cold soup so I decided to make gazpacho in the food processor.  I used this recipe from Chef John: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/222331/chef-johns-gazpacho/. Because 90% of my cooking is done on a whim, I didn’t have everything I needed.  I would have to improvise.  You can check out the original recipe, but here’s my version:

• 1 pound of sweet cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
• > 1/4 cup minced white onion
• 1/2 sweet apple
• 3 carrots
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon

• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced (Maybe MORE LIME)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 10 leaves of thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions

1. Put everything in the food processor and process for 1-2 minutes. 
2. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Season cold soup with salt and black pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with basil.
4. Wow!  That was easy and delicious!