The Greenest Gazpacho

Every spring, as soon as the weather warms up, we start craving gazpacho. Until tomato season is in full swing, we go green all the way — this gazpacho is vegan and gluten-free. We wrote about it in June, 2020.

Use best quality olive oil and sherry vinegar you have for this. If the herb garnish feels too fussy for the moment, you can just swirl on a little more olive oil — or serve it naked. It is always delicious and refreshing.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1 pound cucumbers, cut into chunks (about 6-7 Persians, or two medium English, peeled if English)

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and cut into big chunks

1 small serrano chile, seeded and roughly chopped

3 tender celery stalks, roughly chopped, with their greens if you have them

1 medium bunch of parsley, including most of the stems, very roughly chopped (about 3 ounces)

3 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup raw cashews or almonds (almonds may be whole, sliced or slivered, blanched or not)

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup water

1 cup or more of assorted soft herbs for garnish (leaves only): any combination of dill, parsley, chives, mint, tarragon, basil or Thai basil, cilantro, chervil, celery leaves

Instructions

1. Combine the cucumbers, bell pepper, serrano, celery, parsley, garlic and cashews or almonds in a large bowl. Working in two or three batches (depending on the size of your blender), place some of the vegetable-nut mix, all the salt, some of the vinegar, some of the olive oil and some of the water in the blender and blitz till smooth. Transfer contents to a bowl. Repeat with the rest of the vegetable-nut mix, vinegar, olive oil and water until everything is puréed. Stir to combine.

2. To serve, ladle the gazpacho into six bowls. Drop two or three ice cubes in each. Top with some of the herbs and serve immediately.