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Cold Soup on a Hot Day

We all know that we need to eat our vegetables, especially raw veggies, but sometimes it seems hard to fit that in. I find it helpful to make dishes that will last for more than one meal. Gazpachos are certainly one of these types of foods.

Here is a great recipe with 3 key summer veggies you can find in your garden or any farmers market. Cucumber, green pepper, and of course, ripe and red summer tomatoes.

My mom is from New Jersey and as you Cheap Vegans probably know, I’ve spent a lot of time in Spain, the combination sets the scene for the perfect tomato feast. Tomatoes are great for your bones, your cholesterol and of course your skin. Research has shown the lycopene in tomatoes can even act as a natural sunscreen (see article here).

Below is a recipe I got from a brilliant cook outside of Barcelona. We just attempted it tonight and I have to say we got it pretty darn close to the original.

Authentic Spanish Tomato Gazpacho

  •  5-7 fist size tomato
  • 1 cucumber 
  • 2 cloves of garlic 
  • 1 onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 2 cups water
  • a splash of olive oil and sherry vinegar 
  • salt to taste

 Scald tomatoes in boiling water and peel skin/remove seeds. Blend all ingredients in a blender. Refrigerate for 24 hours and enjoy. If I made it again I may have skipped the scalding process just to see what happened. We didn’t peel the cucumber and it still was excellent.

Tags: tomato tomatoes gazpacho cold soup summer summer food summer soup tomato recipes jersey tomatoes spanish food tapas spanish recipes
July 25, 2012
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Try New Produce.

Some of the best foods are the ones we’ve never tried before. Pictured above are a fun find I got at the farmers market today. I saw this pretty big box full of cute little peppers for only 1€!

Due to various reasons, sometimes random produce can be really cheap. If you see a fruit or veggie on sale that you don’t know very well, try it! If you’re at a farmers market ask a little bit about the vegetable and what it goes with. If you’re not, a quick google search will be able to tell you hundreds of recipes.

These little guys here are called padron peppers and are used for a typical fried pepper tapa here in Barcelona. The recipe is simple. Stir fry peppers with olive oil until they start to peel/brown, and add salt. I roasted mine to keep them a little healthier, but I might try frying them next time just to see if it makes a difference. They were awesome!

One of the best things about trying new foods is being surprised. You might realize that weird pointy purple fruit is actually pink and juicy inside. Or, if you’re like me and you pick up some padrons, you might find that most are not spicy at all but once in a while, one of them sets your mouth on fire!

Tags: padron peppers padron pepper recipe spanish food spanish recipe tapas recipes vegetarian vegan cheap vegan cheap vegan food farmers markets produce fruit fruits and vegetables vegetables recipes new food trying new foods trying new things on sale half off random food
March 31, 2012
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Pan con Tomate The first time I was introduced to pan con tomate was at a nice Catalonian restaurant with my boyfriend’s family. We sat down and our waiter brought us this beautiful toasted bread. I was stoked, but then he came back and put a basket of 6 or 7 tomatoes and cloves of garlic on the table. I obviously thought there must be some mistake. Clearly he didn’t notice that they hadn’t prepared the gazpacho before serving it. Then suddenly the whole family starts grabbing tomatoes and cutting them in half. Apparently I was about to have the best variation of garlic bread I’ve ever had. Since a lot of people write asking me questions about food and traveling, and I am particularly loving baguettes today, I’m going to share this Catalonian tapa that will change your world. Pan con tomate literally means bread with tomato. It is a great variation of french bread or garlic bread bread before/with a meal and it’s perfect for when you don’t feel like making garlic bread or bruschetta but you want both. All you need is: a tomato (roma is best), a clove of garlic, and lightly toasted baguette or Italian peasant bread, oil and salt. Cut your bread into about 1 inch slices and lightly toast, hardly browning. Rub peeled clove of garlic all over bread. Little bits of garlic will rub off on the texture of the toast but they are pretty much invisible, so use your sense of smell to keep from over-garlicing. Cut tomato in half and rub the meat of the tomato all over the bread. (You can save the left over tomato for another dish) Drizzle with olive oil and salt.(Sometimes I add a little fresh basil too, but that’s not typical in Spain) All done! It only takes about 1 minute to make once the bread is toasted.

Pan con Tomate

The first time I was introduced to pan con tomate was at a nice Catalonian restaurant with my boyfriend’s family. We sat down and our waiter brought us this beautiful toasted bread. I was stoked, but then he came back and put a basket of 6 or 7 tomatoes and cloves of garlic on the table. I obviously thought there must be some mistake. Clearly he didn’t notice that they hadn’t prepared the gazpacho before serving it. Then suddenly the whole family starts grabbing tomatoes and cutting them in half. Apparently I was about to have the best variation of garlic bread I’ve ever had.

Since a lot of people write asking me questions about food and traveling, and I am particularly loving baguettes today, I’m going to share this Catalonian tapa that will change your world. Pan con tomate literally means bread with tomato. It is a great variation of french bread or garlic bread bread before/with a meal and it’s perfect for when you don’t feel like making garlic bread or bruschetta but you want both.

All you need is: a tomato (roma is best), a clove of garlic, and lightly toasted baguette or Italian peasant bread, oil and salt.

  1. Cut your bread into about 1 inch slices and lightly toast, hardly browning.
  2. Rub peeled clove of garlic all over bread. Little bits of garlic will rub off on the texture of the toast but they are pretty much invisible, so use your sense of smell to keep from over-garlicing.
  3. Cut tomato in half and rub the meat of the tomato all over the bread. (You can save the left over tomato for another dish)
  4. Drizzle with olive oil and salt.
    (Sometimes I add a little fresh basil too, but that’s not typical in Spain)

All done! It only takes about 1 minute to make once the bread is toasted.

Tags: Pan con tomate garlic bread bread with tomato spain spanish food comida comida espanol tapas taps dishes appetizers fresh bread toast toasted delicious vegan cheap vegan vegetarian health healthy
March 24, 2012
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