Gazpacho Recipes War: Tomato Vibes vs Pea Power

Transcript

Kevin: Hey Michelle, I have a joke for you to start off the episode this time. Oh, wow, okay. Okay, so a guy was in a restaurant and he calls the waiter over and said, Waiter, my soup is cold. And the waiter looks at him a second and sort of smirks and says, It's gazpacho, sir. And the guy looks up at the waiter, rolls his eyes and says, Okay gazpacho, my soup is cold. What a start. I thought I'd start the episode on that note because I know why you picked it. You know why I started with that joke, eh?

Michelle: Yeah.

Kevin: Why? Tell us, tell us.

Michelle: Because today is an episode of, Dum, dum, dum.

Kevin: Dum, dum, dum. Recipes for noobs. Yes. I got to come up with a theme song. You know what, I'm going to find a theme song for that.

Michelle: We need like the pigs in space from the Muppets.

Kevin: Pigs in space. Yes, it's another episode of Recipes for Noobs. And now it's Recipes for Noobs with Kevin and Michelle.

Michelle: Yeah, yeah. And I am going to share my gazpacho recipe. And I think you have one too.

Kevin: And I am going to share my gazpacho recipe. It's like battle of the gazpacho. Woo. Because, you know, it's coming on summer. It's so, you know, we need to start thinking about, you know, these really, to me, gazpacho is like summer in a cup or in a bowl. It's like just that it's a, and for anyone who doesn't know, if you've lived under a rock all your life or something, gazpacho is a cold soup that traditionally is tomato based. But I know, Michelle, I think you're giving us a new twist on it, which is nice.

Michelle: Oh, yeah. No, I'm, yeah, I'm totally non-traditional. Honestly, my gazpacho came about for two reasons. It needed to be simple and it needed to be cheap.

Kevin: Yes, exactly.

Michelle: And, well, and third, it had to be delicious. And I was styling a very special afternoon tea menu. And I liked to do a gazpacho champagne glass as the starter. It was a four course experience that we did. And so, you know, I styled afternoon tea in my tea room after the greatest experience that I'd had all over the world in Paris and in France and in New York. It was the little embellishes, the little gazpacho shooter was something I'd had. And one of those that I was just like, oh, that was just, it was just a nice taste to start off the rest of the experience. Kind of like, you know, an amuse-bouche.

Kevin: Right, exactly. And what's great about gazpacho, I find, is it's an amazing palate cleanser. It is. And so it just sets up, as you say, it's an amuse-bouche. It just gets those digestive juices flowing. And it's just a nice little way to sort of cleanse your palate and get you ready for other parts of the meal.

Michelle: Yeah, and you know, Kevin, and as part of a dietary transition, when you're trying to build behavior change and you're trying to figure out how can I get more healthy, fresh vegetables into my diet, and you're kind of overwhelmed by that. Like at least, I mean, I'm excited to see your recipe, but mine is only like three ingredients. You throw it in the Vitamix and, you know, chances are you already have this on hand in your freezer. And it's delightfully delicious and fresh. And so it's one way that you can really pack some nutrients with very little effort, do it very fast. And you can also make it the meal, right? Of course. I'm sure it's the same with your gazpacho. Some nice sourdough bread, maybe some asparagus or other, you know, like chilled, but roasted vegetables that you could serve with it on a hot summer day. Or even if you're just too lazy to turn on the appliances.

Kevin: No, exactly. And that's what I love. I love summer cooking because it's so easy to just throw stuff on the barbecue. You know, my go-to tends to be roasted vegetables, which is just cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, just whole. So I don't even have to cut them. And they keep their shape, like the skin stays intact on the barbecue, on the grill, so that it's a little bite of tomato-ness. And then red or green peppers. You know, sometimes I throw, you know, red onion is great. Zucchini is amazing. Eggplant, cubes of eggplant can be great.

Michelle: You're making me hungry.

Kevin: I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm just, you know, throw some corn on. It's just so easy. Summer is, cooking is easy in the summer. Okay, let's get on to the recipes. We're talking so much about, I'm getting hungry now. Yeah, we've gotten off track. So do you want to go first? Should we start with the non-traditional or should we start with the traditional?

Michelle: I want you to go first.

Kevin: Okay, okay. Well, mine is super traditional. But I just want to start by saying, to me, gazpacho is less of a recipe and it's sort of more of a vibe. So I do not measure.

Michelle: Patent pending.

Kevin: So yeah, it's the gazpacho vibe, man. Feel the vibe. So I don't measure. So I apologize. I know that's horrible for a recipe podcast not to give you a recipe to follow. But it's more, you'll get the feeling once I go through. So number one rule for my recipe, and this is non-negotiable.

Michelle: I'm already feeling defiant.

Kevin: Oh, no, no, no, no. You can only use the ripest, the freshest tomatoes. This is not a winter recipe where you use those crummy tomatoes we get in winter.

Michelle: I know tomatoes are your Achilles heel.

Kevin: If you're lucky enough to live in an environment, in an area that's maybe a little further south and you get tomatoes all year long, I am so envious of you.

Michelle: Or on Michelle's Tower Garden.

Kevin: Or on Michelle's Tower Garden. But otherwise, if you're buying them from the store, this is, for me, I only make it in August and September when you get the baskets of tomato at the local farmer's market. And they were picked a half an hour ago, and they're sun warmed, and they're just wonderful. So you take a whole bunch of those, core them, and throw them in your blender. Define a whole bunch. Lots. Fill up your blender.

Michelle: Like six?

Kevin: Six, eight, ten. I mean, it depends on the size. Usually the field tomatoes tend to be big. So I'd say between six and a dozen. It depends how much you're making it for. It does store for several days.

Michelle: Oh, do you mean six, seven?

Kevin: Six, seven. I live with a 12-year-old, okay? That's so over, don't you know that? So lots of tomatoes. I mean, the bulk of this recipe is tomatoes. So you can't go wrong. The more tomatoes, the merrier. The one thing is you do have to use a good blender, like a Vitamix or a Ninja or something like that. A high-speed blender. Yeah, if you don't have a good high-speed blender, you can still do this. But you will, unfortunately, have to blanch your tomatoes to de-skin them. And all that is, it's very simple. I used to do this before I had the blender. Core the tomato, and then take your knife, turn the tomato over, and do a small X on the bottom of the tomato. Just a shallow little X, just to break the skin. Put the tomatoes in boiling water, completely covered, for about 30 seconds to a minute. No more. You'll see the skin start to come away. Take them out of the boiling water. Throw them in cold water immediately to cool them down. And the skin will just fall off. And then you put them in the blender.

Michelle: Yeah, that's a great hack.

Kevin: But it's so much easier with a high-speed blender, because you don't have to worry. The skin will just disappear in the blender.

Michelle: And you're also going to get the extra nutrients from that skin. The skin has got some good stuff in it.

Kevin: I didn't know tomatoes had extra. Okay, well then, even better. Then, basically, liquefy the tomatoes. Just take them down to nothing. Get out all your frustrations on those damn tomatoes. And just keep on liquefying them.

Michelle: Poor little tomato. What did he ever do to you?

Kevin: Oh, you have no idea. It's all those winter tomatoes. It's years and years of eating winter tomatoes. It's just added up.

Michelle: You're a tomato racist.

Kevin: I am. I am. Absolutely. And then you add your extras. And this is where you're going to add. You're not going to want any more than about an 80% tomato, 20% extras proportion. So you don't want to add too many of the extras. But then you just pick and choose what you have. So I love adding cucumber. Skin and all. Red pepper is amazing. Again, skin and all. Garlic is absolutely essential. Absolutely. If you want red onion, I actually prefer not to add onion because I find it overpowers the gazpacho a little bit. So if you use red onion, just keep in mind just a little bit and experiment. Don't add too much because it will overpower. I like the punch that comes with a nice red onion. See, I find the raw garlic is enough of a punch. And I find the garlic, the warmth of the garlic complements the tomato flavor more than the bite of an onion. But that's just my taste.

Michelle: What you're describing so far, if I had the time, I would actually like to roast the garlic a little bit first before throwing it in there. That would be lovely.

Kevin: Absolutely. Certainly if you have roasted garlic, if you have roasted red peppers, any of that will add to the flavor, add to the richness and the depth of the flavor. But I'm going for the five-minute spiel of just throw the tomatoes in, throw everything in super quick. Add some crushed red peppers. Again, if you want a little bit of heat, fresh basil is amazing. And if you're feeling, to a comment you made earlier, if you want it a little bit thicker and you want it a little heartier, you can throw in some stale sourdough bread. And that just adds a little bit, not much, again, add it in levels and layers so that you add it, blenderize it, see how thick it is, you can add some more. Because you don't want to add water to water it down. You want to keep those tomato flavors as undiluted as possible. So just a little bit of sourdough bread will just add a little bit more body to it. And a little bit of that sourness, that mellow sourness from the dough. And then you just blenderize it. Blenderize, blenderize, blenderize. Mix it all until it's nice and smooth and it'll be a nice rich red. And then to serve, pour it in a bowl or a cup or whatever, champagne flute as you said. And just add a few diced cucumber pieces or shredded cucumber on top. And just a tiny, tiny drizzle of olive oil or balsamic vinegar or both. Maybe a tiny, tiny pinch of sea salt. And you are done. It's five minutes start to finish. And it is just, as I said earlier, it is to me, it's summer in a bowl or summer in a glass.

Michelle: What you've been describing, you've broken down all these steps and it sounds like a lot more than it is. Because when you take all of the beautiful embellishments that you've described, we're only talking about five minutes. Oh yeah, exactly. You're just throwing these things in a blender and you're going brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. You're pouring it into a little glass garnishing.

Kevin: Yeah, exactly. And like you don't have to, you peel the garlic, but you throw the garlic clove in. You don't have to, you need no knives for this at all, except to core the tomato. And then you take the end off the cucumber. Like that's it. So it is incredibly simple. It's literally five minutes from opening your fridge and putting the blender on the counter to having a glass of this amazing deliciousness. And again, it'll keep for several days in the fridge. It's a great for parties, I find. It's a real simple showstopper that makes people say, wow, that's good, because it all comes down to the tomatoes.

Michelle: The magic for me, what I love about just making my food look delicious is I love the little garnishes. You described that so well, putting a little bit of cucumber, a little sprig of this, a little bit of sea salt.

Kevin: Yeah, a little sprig of... I find watercress is an amazing garnish, because it's a little individual leaves.

Michelle: Yes. Yeah. And it has that freshness, too, that would complement...

Kevin: Yeah, it's got that, but it doesn't really change the flavor of anything. It's just a really nice complement.

Michelle: Yeah.

Kevin: So, yeah, so that's my gazpacho, my tomato gazpacho with no recipe.

Michelle: Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it.

Kevin: So now we've had the traditional. Let's go for the untraditional.

Michelle: Yeah, well, I don't, I don't know. I guess I didn't really know that I was being untraditional. I just like, I just love peas.

Kevin: Italian, let me tell you, Italians all over the world are cringing to hear a non-traditional gazpacho recipe.

Michelle: Oh, poor little you. To me, there is nothing like the taste of fresh peas. And that can be like right out of the garden, or like the way that I make my gazpacho is just frozen peas. And this is like the cheapest gazpacho you will ever make in your life. You need a bag of frozen peas and a small to medium onion.

Kevin: I have that in my freezer right now. I can, I can make this right now.

Michelle: Honestly, Kevin, this is how this came about because I was pouring through all these recipes trying to come up with something that we could add as the fourth course for an amuse-bouche. But there were so many other complicated things that I was preparing later on in the service that I just needed something that was going to be fast, that was going to have a wow. Like you said, it was going to be a nice, a nice punch to, to intro the experience with a bit of a palate cleanse to it. And and for me, like I just like that experience of the freshness. So you honestly, all you need, three cups of frozen peas, one small to medium onion and water. So you, the only cooking that you have to do is you do just chop and saute the onion. And that like just for, for about five minutes. If you, if you don't like, and it doesn't matter what kind of onion you use, like whatever onion floats your boat, if it happens to be one of those larger Vidalios or something like then just use half of one for the three cups of frozen peas. And if you want to make more, you can. What I'm suggesting makes about four cups, like for four people. Okay.

Kevin: Yeah.

Michelle: And if you're doing shooters, it makes far more, it serves hundreds of shooters. Yeah, exactly. So it's one of these like really deceptively simple recipes, but it really punches above its weight nutritionally because a lot of people don't realize a single cup of peas contains seven grams of protein.

Kevin: So, yeah. I have absolutely no nutritional information about my recipe.

Michelle: Yeah. You know, I almost should have had you share it with me ahead of time so that I could do that. Sorry.

Kevin: I have no recipe to share. It's, it's a vibe. How can you add nutritional information to a vibe? Tell me that. Riddle me that.

Michelle: I feel an outtake coming on.

Kevin: Don't you try to add numbers to my vibe.

Michelle: Okay.

Kevin: Don't lock down my vibe with your numbers, lady.

Michelle: Stop it. We have to get back on track.

Kevin: Okay. I'll shut up now. Let's go back to your pea-filled gazpacho.

Michelle: Yeah.

Kevin: You had to expect that. Okay. What's wrong with you today? I don't know. I have no idea what's wrong with me.

Michelle: So you're gonna, you're gonna saute the onion really quick and you can use a little bit of oil to saute your onion if you want. That is going to lend like a little bit of texture and, and, and flavor to it. But if you want to do this oil free, you can just use two or three tablespoons of water. Um, what a lot of people don't realize when they're sauteing an onion, as long as you have a good quality pan, the onions are going to sweat and they're going to, they're going to like have their own moisture and you don't actually really need oil to saute an onion. Most veggies are like that. Yeah. So just a little bit, a little bit of water. And like I said, you don't need to do this for long just till they turn translucent. Dump it in the Vitamix, dump your three cups of peas in. Um, you can fill, uh, water to cover the peas. Again, if you want to add a little bit of extra flavor, you can use like, uh, one or two cups of vegetable broth and then top up the rest of it with water. Like it's super easy. But if all you have are peas and water and an onion, trust me, this is delicious and season it with, um, some salt and pepper. And I do have a little kind of a secret thing that, um, I learned from one of the chefs I was collaborating with now in his case, he used to make his own fermented chilies to flavor dish dishes with, and the fermented chilies were absolutely delicious. And I'm not going to do that personally. I'm not going to ferment chilies.

Kevin: That seems like a lot of work.

Michelle: But I have learned if you use a little bit of sambal oelek.

Kevin: Oh, yes.

Michelle: It can just add a little hint, a little dimension. If you like that, if you're, if you're looking to add that little bit of spice, that little bit of sort of Thai heat to it.

Kevin: I just want to plug sambal oelek for a second. That goes with just about any dish.

Michelle: I know.

Kevin: I find like anything you're looking to just give a little subtle kick to, that's an amazing condiment to have in your house.

Michelle: It's so easy. And like you have a jar of it and you only ever use a tiny bit each time, so like it lasts forever.

Kevin: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it is amazing. Well, it doesn't last forever in my house. Cause I tend to use it a whole lot. Well, cause I make my own like Thai sweet chili Thai sauce.

Michelle: Oh, right. So you're always, you're always so good like that, Kev, my little foodie.

Kevin: Well, I just, you know what I don't like, I don't want to come across like a health freak, but I don't actually like a whole lot of pre-made condiments cause I find they're either too sweet or too salty or whatever.

Michelle: Yeah.

Kevin: So, so I'd rather just, and something like that, it's, you know, a Thai sweet chili sauce is literally four ingredients. It's so, maybe that's another episode. Condiments. Um, but it's so easy to make and it takes like five minutes or less and it's, it's just, it's so much better than anything I've had anyway, sambal oelek, amazing. Use it a lot.

Michelle: Nice. Yeah. So you end up just with the, just with the peas alone, you end up with fiber, you end up with protein. Um, and because we're not cooking them, um, they, they're slightly higher in vitamin C and B vitamins, which are heat sensitive, right? So whenever, whenever, whenever we cook our peas, we, we cook those kind of out. So it's, it's just so easy.

Kevin: And I'm sure it just has that fresh, like green flavor. Like it would just be, I need to try this. It sounds amazing.

Michelle: Yeah. It's an explosion of like, did you ever sit in the garden when you were a little kid and like take the peas off the vine and just pop them in your mouth?

Kevin: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Fresh peas. It's like that, Kev.

Michelle: And I'll be honest. Now there was another version of this that I, I, I sometimes used to make and it, it, it involves half of an avocado and, and some lemon juice and other things. And it makes it a little bit creamier. But honestly, um, in anticipation of this episode, I did them both because I, it had been a while since I, since I made them and I never made them side by side. And I honestly prefer the simpler one. I really do.

Kevin: Really? Sometimes simple is better.

Michelle: Yeah, exactly.

Kevin: It's got better vibes.

Michelle: The vibes are high. I'm saying, so it isn't just like, it isn't just a light and watery gazpacho, but it, it all, it has staying power. Like there's, there's enough fiber in there that it, it hangs together and it can, it just provides that little punch. It helps you stay full. It'll help support your blood sugar stability. Um, it's just a really easy way to get that, those extra, extra nutrients in. Um, the flavor is very bright.

Kevin: Yeah. And you could adjust the amount of water you add. If you want it a little thicker, you could reduce the water and adjust.

Michelle: Sorry, take me back to your recipe for a second. You're not cooking the tomatoes when you're putting it right in the high-speed blender, right?

Kevin: No, everything is raw in mine. Everything is even the garlic.

Michelle: Right. I'm going to say the same for your recipe as my recipe when it comes to the next thing I'm going to talk about just for a minute, if a person had had really damaged gut, they've got, they're having a lot of difficulty with digestion, especially as they're introducing more fresh, more raw, more fiber-rich foods into their diet. Then that's a case where, you know, maybe blanching the tomatoes a bit first is a good idea. And maybe what you, what you can do in that case, if you find that, that the raw peas, even though they're pretty forgiving, but some people, you know, really struggle with that at the beginning or they get gassy, then you can just, when you cook the onion, throw the peas in and just cook the peas a little bit for a minute or two. You don't have to do it for long. Um, just to break down, you know, some of that, some, some of that fiber. Cooking it a little bit just makes, just makes any, any fruit or vegetable a little bit more digestible for, for sensitive tummies. And, and in the case of the tomato, I would say probably more case for the tomato than the pea for the person with sensitive digestion, because of the acid. Right. And in the tomato, and you know, and if a person has GERD or, you know, really suffers from acid reflux and, and whatnot, then the tomatoes are probably out anyway. In which case that makes, that makes the pea soup the star. So, you know, I, I want to just come back to the fact that, you know, we're, we've kind of been promoting this as a, as a starter and a mousse bouche, but I mean, you can make it the center plate and just all of those embellishments and a nice piece of sourdough bread, and maybe some have some, you know, a nice serving of some grilled asparagus or other grilled vegetables on the side or some sort of salad, you can, you can make this the main, the main plate and, and present it really beautifully as well as having it as a, as a nice little, little shooter.

Kevin: Yeah. This is basically the vegetable course of your meal or it can be. And then you just add some protein and some starch and you're all done. It's amazing. So easy.

Michelle: There's protein in there, Kev.

Kevin: There is. Okay. Okay. Not in mine. So, or less than mine, but I'm more traditional. My vibe doesn't have as much protein as yours and I'm not adding peas to mine. I'm not peeing in my gazpacho.

Michelle: You know what your tomato is? Your tomato gazpacho is really beneficial for, it's really beneficial in some essential nutrients and micronutrients. Like it's, uh, really packs a punch of vitamin C, potassium, vitamin A, folate, beta carotene, lycopene. It's like 2,341 micrograms of lycopene.

Kevin: Can't get enough of that lycopene.

Michelle: I know what it's lacking in protein and fiber. It's really giving you in those nutrients.

Kevin: Again, and that's why you say you shouldn't just focus on any one nutrients because it's the whole picture.

Michelle: Exactly. It's about the cornucopia and you know, just to, just to plug for your vibes of having a really good quality blender. I think, I think that's like the essential appliance in a kitchen is to have a really good quality high speed blender. Cause there's so many things that you can do with it.

Kevin: Especially if you're lazy like me.

Michelle: And to get more raw, fresh into your diet in a really, really delicious way, as well as a very convenient way. That's a great way to do it because when you're not cooking those tomatoes, you're getting more of that, those more volatile nutrients, more lycopene.

Kevin: Yeah. And it's just easy. Yeah. And lazy. Yeah, that's, that's my sale for it. Who cares about the nutrition? It's easy and it's lazy. You can get dinner on the table way faster and way easier with less work for you.

Michelle: Well, my friend, I have some pea jokes for you though. Are you ready?

Kevin: Okay. Pea jokes.

Michelle: To just, just, just to compliment my, my gazpacho.

Kevin: Your, your gazpacho with pea, your pea gazpacho, yes.

Michelle: All right. This is, we're going to do this like a lightning round. You ready?

Kevin: Okay.

Michelle: Peas are always great at parties. They always bring a little bit of snack. Yeah. What do you call two peas in love? A perfect pod. Why did the pea go to the doctor? He was feeling a little green. Why did the pea jump out of the airplane? He wanted to be an air pod.

Kevin: That's a good one.

Michelle: Finally, split peas are just legumes with a breakup story. I know that's a different kind of pea, but you know.

Kevin: That's okay. That's okay. I'll, I'll allow it. Oh, wow.

Michelle: And when life gives you peas, you make pea soup.

Kevin: Pea gazpacho. Exactly. Untraditional gazpacho. Um, okay. Well, I need to provide one joke, but I don't have a pea joke. I'm afraid I wasn't prepared.

Michelle: You have a tomato joke?

Kevin: I don't have a tomato joke. I, I, I, I've already like blown my shot on the gazpacho joke from the beginning. So like, that's all I had. You know, I was Googling gazpacho jokes and there aren't many.

Michelle: For good reason.

Kevin: What, you know, one of the, one of the gazpacho jokes I found, thanks to AI was, waiter, waiter, what's this fly doing in my gazpacho? Oh, I think it's a backstroke, sir. Says the waiter. Like that's not actually gazpacho joke. It's a soup joke. That's an old, stupid AI has just replaced gazpacho with soup. So that doesn't count. I don't, I don't accept that.

Michelle: No.

Kevin: So I've got a completely out of left field joke, but I think you might appreciate it.

Michelle: Okay.

Kevin: So a sheep walked into a bar since you like walked into a bar jokes.

Michelle: That was worth it.

Kevin: So there we go.

Michelle: So we're of course going to put these recipes in the show notes for people, right?

Kevin: Yes. Well, we'll put your recipe in the show notes and your, your ramblings. We'll have some vague vibey.