Chicken Gazpacho

“Cold soup is a very tricky thing and it is the rare hostess who can carry it off. More often than not the dinner guest is left with the impression that had he only come a little earlier he could have gotten it while it was still hot.” -Fran Lebowitz, journalist

I got acquainted with this refreshing soup for the first time when I was working with HSBC. A Latin American colleague of mine introduced me to this soup. Now at my mum's place, a soup means it has to be piping hot...or its not a soup, so I never really tried making this.

However my hub has trotted the globe quite a bit and I guess is worldly-wise (grin) and is far more adventourous than I am ...even in terms of the food he eats.(chuckle!)
I have made several versions of this gazpacho, as I don't like repeating my dishes ...unless absolutely necessary...lol.
So without much a do I made this soup today morning for breakfast...(trying to keep it slim and healthy....as long as I can) !

This classic chilled tomato soup is chock full of garden-fresh vegetables, cholesterol free, and made with very little added oil. My twist to this classic is only in adding shredded poached chicken to the otherwise garden-full bowl !


Chicken Gazpacho
Ingredients-
1/4 cup diced red-peppers
1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
1/4 cup diced carrots,slightly blanched
1/4 cup or less chopped green beans,blanched
2-3 small green chillies (adjust according to taste)
2 tbsp vinegar
1 celery stalk, chopped finely
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped
2-3 basil leaves,minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 cup cooked fusilli (optional)
a dash of olive oil
4-5 cups of vegetable broth/chicken broth
1 large ripe tomato,boiled and pureed
1/4 cup tomato juice
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded poached chicken (optional)


Method-

In a saucepan boil 2 cups of water and add the diced carrots and green beans, for a minute. Immediately drain them and place under cold tap water.

In a blender add the garlic, chillies,tomato puree, tomato juice,vinegar, celery, half of the red & green peppers ,half of the carrots and puree them together with the broth. ( I like my gazpacho not so thick/creamy so I added more broth.)

In a heated deep bottomed pan, add the olive oil with the chopped spring onions, basil leaves, cumin powder, remaining red & yellow peppers, blanched green beans and remaining carrots. Stir.

Finally add the puree with the broth. Season with salt and pepper. Add the shredded chicken and fusilli. Remove from heat and let cool/chill.

Serve warm/chilled (traditionally its served chilled) with croutons or cheese bruschetta.





During its long, arid summers, Andalucía cools itself down with chilled gazpacho, a hearty and pungent soup that has gained fame throughout the world for its amazing thirst-quenching quality.

Often described as a liquid salad, gazpacho descends from ancient Roman concoction based on a combination of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar. As Romans labored to build roads and aqueducts across Spain in the scorching heat, this soup replenished them with the necessary salt and vitamins lost through physical exertion.

Later, shepherds and farmers added vegetables to make it more hearty and satisfying. Because tomatoes and bell peppers were not indigenous to Spain, these ingredients were not added to the soup until after Spain's discovery of the New World. Since that time, gazpacho has remained relatively unchanged - an unpretentious soup designed to quench the thirst evoked by the unrelenting Spanish sun.








Note: This soup can be made vegetarian/vegan by skipping the chicken and/or adding tofu/cottage cheese cubes instead.



I share this with HotM(Heart of the Matter) which is dedicated to healthy cooking and eating.