A couple days ago, a recipe for Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho ended up in my email, and that same afternoon I came home to discover that our local supermarket had sent out a coupon for a free pound of heirloom tomatoes!  Synchronicity!  We hadn’t made gazpacho since last summer, and we’ve been meaning to try out a blended version to see how it compares to the chunky-style we’ve made in the past.  The recipe here is adapted from Latin Evolution, set to release in a few weeks.

Lisa says:

Are you making snacks and trying to pass them off as dinner again?

Chris says:

Hey, what’s wrong with wanting to eat light?

Lisa says:

Nothing, but come on… I literally ran out of the house to get food to go with this soup.

Chris says:

Okay, okay… but the question is, how do you like it?

Lisa says:

I like it … it might be just a touch too vinegary, though.

Chris says:

I agree — I updated the recipe note that you should taste it as you go before adding it all in.

Lisa says:

Good idea. So, this is really smooth…

Chris says:

…like yacht-rock!

Lisa says:

…sure… I think I like the chunky version a little better though.

Chris says:

I’m undecided. I think with a little tweaking this one could be the winner for me — I actually prefer the pureed consistency. The chunkier version was almost like just eating a bowl of salsa.

Lisa says:

What’s wrong with that?

Chris says:

Nothing, if I just wanted a snack…

Lisa says:

Why does that sound so familiar?

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
4 large red heirloom tomatoes
2/3 English cucumber, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic
1/4-1/3 cup sherry vinegar
3 tbsp diced day-old baguette, crust removed
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 English cucumber, seeded and diced
yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
red onion, diced

Core and peel the tomatoes, then cut into chunks. In a blender, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, most of the vinegar, and bread. Taste, and if needed, add the rest of the vinegar. Puree until smooth. While pureeing, slowly add olive oil until emulsified. Season with sugar, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate until cold. Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and garnish with cilantro, accompanied by the diced cucumber, bell pepper, and red onion.

Makes 4-6 cups, depending on the size of the tomatoes

Holy mackeral (er, halibut) this was delicious. This fish recipe comes from Healthy Latin Cooking. The book calls for snapper, but we opted for halibut instead. The sauce, which you cook while the fish marinates in lime juice, includes tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers, olives, and a bunch of good spices. Once the sauce thickens, you add the fish to the pan and cook until done, about 4 minutes on each side. We served rice pilaf as an accompaniment.

I found this variant of the Brazilian Fish Stew Moqueca on Elise’s site. Salmon is marinated in lime, garlic, and spices for a couple of hours, then cooked with onions, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and coconut milk. The stew is then served over rice. The only modification I made to the recipe, other than cutting it in half, was using Light Coconut Milk.

Salmon Fish Stew, Brazilian Style Recipe

I found this recipe on RecipeZaar, but it’s originally from a book called “Stop and Smell the Rosemary“. We’ve made this one quite a few times, and have modified the original by cutting the oil in half, cutting back the cumin to a 1.5 tablespoons, and using fire roasted tomatoes. You’ll save a lot of time if you cook/shred the chicken (about 2 cups) while the soup simmers for 30 mintues; you add it just before serving.

It’s delicious topped with diced avocados or, as we did tonight, with cilantro and homemade tortilla strips.

From our most frequently used cookbook, Great Bowls of Fire, comes this Brazilian black bean and meat stew. The chipotle peppers and chorizo really complemented each other, although next time I’d use a spicier chorizo if I could find it.

Great Bowls of Fire is a fantastic cookbook — a lot of the recipes only require one pot, and even though it’s not marketed as a “healthy” cookbook, a majority of the recipes are low-fat and many are vegetarian. And as the name would imply, they’re all spicy. It’s been out of print for a while now, so if you can find a copy for cheap, grab it while you can.

Made this dish for our friend Carrie one evening. The sauce was fantastic — a combination of tomatillos, jalapeños, green onions, cilantro, pumpkin seeds… it goes on and on. Yum! We had never had hearts of palm before, they were close in taste to artichokes. Very good with this simple dressing of corn, tomatoes, and lime.

Both recipes were from one of our new favorite cookbooks, Healthy Latin Cooking by Steven Raichlen. We’ve made half a dozen recipes from this book already.