Gazpacho: a flavorful, raw soup

I'm finishing up the spring cleanse just as the semester grinds to a halt. It's a great way to finish up this cycle of my life. A lot is going to change within the next year -- even within the next few months -- so I feel that it is appropriate to clean, lighten, and finish projects with clear intentions and calm perspective.

Like last year's spring cleanse (which I did a few months before starting this blog), I spent 6 weeks eating a macrobiotic diet of whole foods, lightly cooked, supplemented with things like probiotics, enzymes, greens powders, whey powder, and lots of herbal tea. Also like last year, I lost a bunch of weight -- this time I dropped about 11 lbs. Of course, I had put on at least 8 lbs. over the stupid winter (can I just say that I wish Xmas would go away and never come back? Call me Scrooge -- w/e). So, I'm feeling thin and healthy, which is nice. I also had the chance to do a lot more with stinging nettles (I made a pesto with it! -- just steam or boil it until it's soft and then use it as a basil replacement), which are so good for cleansing. I made a strong tea with them and added some fresh peppermint for a fantastic cleanse tea. Really good for those "gaseous" times during the cleanse. ;)

I also experimented a bit more with raw food and liquids, which leads me to the title of this post. Gazpacho is such a great soup; it's pure vegetable and spoon-licking good. It's a great, light food. This is a really basic recipe -- feel free to experiment with different vegetables -- maybe some greens or carrots or some different herbs.

Gazpacho

1 lb. of ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 spanish onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped

2 cups tomato/vegetable juice (use one that is a medley of vegetables for more complex flavor)

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (so good for you, esp. when cleansing)

1 tsp. of ground cumin (adds depth; makes the soup feel more "substantial")

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

1/4 c. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste (or use Bragg's)

Honestly, this is pretty easy -- everything ends up in the food processor or blender and is pureed until the desired consistency is achieved. Start with the tomatoes and then just add the ingredients, pretty much in the order given. Add the oil last, however, and pour it in slowly as the blender is running so it will incorporate well. Chill. Serve nice and cold.

Garden Notes: Sudden Growth, Flowerly Anticipation and an Old Poem

I was amazed to see how much the garden has spurted in the couple of days since I went by to water it last. The Isis Candy Tomato, the Brandywine and the Cayenne Pepper plants all have flowers (yeah! But you can't really see one in this picture). 

I wish my plot in the community garden was in my backyard and that I didn't have to drive to it. I'd like to just hang out there, read a book and observe the wildlife all around. When I got there, there was a huge flock of birds (sparrows, likely) in the lower portion of the garden that swooped up into the air as I opened the gate. It's like they know they're not supposed to be there, eating all the seeds/seedlings. Anyway, there were so many of them it was a downright Hitchcock moment. 

Still, it would be nice to just sit there and forget about things -- pretend that this is the way the world really is, full of green growing things, the promise of abundance and life.

Here is a poem by Andrew Marvell. 

The Garden

How vainly men themselves amaze

To win the palm, the oak, or bays;

And their uncessant labors see

Crowned from some single herb or tree,

Whose short and narrow-vergèd shade

Does prudently their toils upbraid;

While all the flowers and trees do close

To weave the garlands of repose.

 

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here,

And Innocence, thy sister dear!

Mistaken long, I sought you then

In busy companies of men:

Your sacred plants, if here below,

Only among the plants will grow;

Society is all but rude,

To this delicious solitude.

 

No white nor red was ever seen

So amorous as this lovely green;

Fond lovers, cruel as their flame,

Cut in these trees their mistress' name.

Little, alas, they know or heed,

How far these beauties hers exceed!

Fair trees! wheresoe'er your barks I wound

No name shall but your own be found.

 

When we have run our passion's heat,

Love hither makes his best retreat:

The gods who mortal beauty chase,

Still in a tree did end their race.

Apollo hunted Daphne so,

Only that she might laurel grow,

And Pan did after Syrinx speed,

Not as a nymph, but for a reed.

 

What wondrous life is this I lead!

Ripe apples drop about my head;

The luscious clusters of the vine

Upon my mouth do crush their wine;

The nectarine and curious peach

Into my hands themselves do reach;

Stumbling on melons as I pass,

Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass.

 

Meanwhile the mind, from pleasure less,

Withdraws into its happiness:

The mind, that ocean where each kind

Does straight its own resemblance find;

Yet it creates, transcending these,

Far other worlds, and other seas;

Annihilating all that's made

To a green thought in a green shade.

 

Here at the fountain's sliding foot,

Or at some fruit-tree's mossy root,

Casting the body's vest aside,

My soul into the boughs does glide:

There like a bird it sits and sings,

Then whets and combs its silver wings;

And, till prepared for longer flight,

Waves in its plumes the various light.

 

Such was that happy garden-state,

While man there walked without a mate:

After a place so pure and sweet,

What other help could yet be meet!

But 'twas beyond a mortal's share

To wander solitary there:

Two paradises 'twere in one

To live in Paradise alone.

 

How well the skillful gard'ner drew

Of flowers and herbs this dial new;

Where from above the milder sun

Does through a fragrant zodiac run;

And, as it works, th' industrious bee

Computes its time as well as we.

How could such sweet and wholesome hours

Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers!

 

Poets.org