Mom's Gazpacho

This is the gazpacho my mom makes. It's a great hot weather dish. The recipe is fairly simple, but the raw onion and garlic give it a bit of bite. For guests, serve the chopped up cucumber, tomato, onion, and pepper chunks in separate bowls so everyone can add their own. This soup also goes well with crusty French or Italian bread.

Ingredients:
1 large cuke, peeled
3 cups tomato juice
1 med. onion
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1 green pepper (or half-green, half-yellow or red)
2 large tomatoes (or a small can of tomatoes with juice for more flavor)
1 tbl. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
ground pepper

Time: TBA
Yield: never enough

1. Combine 1/2 cuke, 1 tomato or 1/2 can tomatoes, 1/2 pepper, 1/2 onion, garlic cloves, 1 cup tomato juice in processor. Blend.

2. Pour puree and 2 cups of tomato juice, vinegar, oil, into covered dish. Refrigerate.

3. Chop remaining cuke, tomato, pepper, onion. Refrigerate in plastic bag or covered dish.

4. Before serving, add veggies to puree, add ground pepper, and any other seasonings.

Mom's Note:
The general idea is to make a puree of half the veggies and add liquids and refrigerate, and then cut up the rest of veggies and refrigerate separately. Put them together before serving. Makes everything fresher and less mushy that way and allows everthing to cool more quickly if you are making it for serving right away. Also, I often double recipe.