This Community Recipe is Rabbi Dan’s Summer Gazpacho. A cold tomato based soup, gazpacho is a Spanish favorite made from blended tomatoes, cucumber, onion and garlic. It is seasoned with salt and pepper, and vinegar adds a bright acidic tang.
Community Recipes is a recurring feature where we share your vegan recipes on the Jewish Food Hero blog. If you want to share a recipe in this series, pitch us your idea here. This series is all about sharing healthy plant-based and vegan recipes and creating a positive community around food and sharing.
All about Rabbi Dan Ross
Dan joined the clergy team at Central Synagogue in July 2019. Prior to Central, he served as the Senior Jewish Educator at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. Dan was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in May 2018. During rabbinical school, he served as rabbinic intern at Columbia/Barnard Hillel and as a student rabbi at Temple Beth Ha-Sholom in Williamsport, PA. Originally from Merion Station, PA, Dan studied history and science, technology and society at the University of Pennsylvania. Dan is always happy to talk about all things Harry Potter, Hamilton and Pixar. He lives with his wife Jade, also a rabbi, and their ridiculously adorable dog Rashi. Dan, Jade and Rashi are hoping to move to Forest Hills in Queens soon.
Dan can often be found on a morning run listening to audiobooks and some of his favorite podcasts: The Ezra Klein Show; Binge Mode; and the Bill Simmons Podcast.
Recently he’s been reading a lot of books on racism and anti-racism, the two books which he found most powerful being:
Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility
Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
About traditional gazpacho
Gazpacho is a Spanish cold soup with a tomato base, which originates from Andalusia. The basic ingredients are fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and seasoning. Leftover white bread adds body to traditional versions. Stale slices or chunks are left to soak in the blended soup, then it is blended again to give a filling, smooth texture.
Perfect any time of day
This versatile soup is ideal to serve at any point throughout a hot day. Because it is chilled, you can just keep it in the fridge and pour to serve immediately, so it is a totally no-fuss food. This thirst quenching soup would be great as a mid-morning snack, a light lunch, afternoon refreshment or a starter before a main evening meal.
Rabbi Dan’s Summer Gazpacho
Rabbi Dan adapted this recipe from his mom’s classic. She would make this when the weather became warm. It is a simple, amazing gazpacho made using a blender. When Dan finally got a blender of his own, he asked for the recipe, and has been making it himself ever since. When I asked him to describe the dish, he said, “It’s a great dish to eat outside with someone you love.” Which I think is the cutest description of a soup.
“It’s a great dish to eat outside with someone you love.” – Rabbi Dan Ross
Variations
- Traditional: Rabbi Dan’s Summer Gazpacho skips the bulky bread – you could add it back in to give a thicker texture.
- Spicy: add fresh chili to suit your taste
- Garnish ideas: garnish with sliced strawberries, cucumbers or a sprinkle fresh corn kernels on top for sweet juicy crunch
How to serve this chilled soup
If you make this soup ahead, you can keep it in the fridge to enjoy on Shabbat.
Enjoy it any time, simply pour the chilled soup into bowls to serve. A beautiful bowl of this soup is a perfectly good meal, with some carbohydrate served alongside to make this a complete and satiating meal.
For occasions when you want a bigger spread for your table, this soup would work great alongside:
- Slices of vegan challah for dipping
- Apple and Pumpkin Couscous
- Quinoa Cranberry Mandarin Salad
- Tahini Cashew and Apricot Cake
More Community Recipes
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration to mix up our regular recipe rotation. Our Community Recipes feature is for just that – to share our favorites and hear from a variety of people in our community. Don’t forget to get in touch to share your vegan recipe too!
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Rabbi Dan’s Summer Gazpacho
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Soup
Ingredients
- 4–5 fresh tomatoes (the sweeter and redder the better)
- 1–2 cloves of garlic
- 1 medium cucumber (or half a large one)
- 1 small red onion (or a quarter of a large one)
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper
- 2 cups vegetable juice (I like V8 Low Sodium.)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Chop all of the vegetables into chunks and add to your blender. This doesn’t have to be an exact science.
Add all liquid ingredients.
Blend until smoothly combined.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Transfer to a jug or bowl and cover. Leave to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Keywords: tomatoes, chilled soup, gazpacho, vegan, plant-based
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