Mexican-Style Gazpacho

Sarah gave me her gazpacho recipe recently, when I was hard up for an easy soup that was tasty and healthy to boot. She got this recipe from her teacher when she was studying in Spain, so it's authentic as it gets. I have tried my hand at gazpacho before using other recipes I've found online, and nothing compares to this flavorful soup.

I love it because it comes together easily, and is quite tasty. Feel free to just make the regular old recipe without the additional add-ins (that's for my sake, I need lots o chunks in my soup to enjoy it). I wanted to give it a Tex-Mex type flair, so added nontraditional flavors to the gazpacho: cilantro and avocado and hot sauce. Quite good! And perfect for a hot summer day, when you want something cold and soothing and don't feel like firing up the stove.

Mexican Gazpacho

Ingredients:
3 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 green pepper (Sarah recommends Anaheim)
1 clove of garlic
About 3/4 c. olive oil
2 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
3 thick pieces of stale, wet bread (Sarah's note: 'I usually cut a few pieces from leftover French bread, then run them under water for a few seconds and squeeze them out slightly')

1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. hot sauce such as Tabasco
1/2 c. finely chopped white onion
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into small chunks
1/2 lb. fresh lump crabmeat (1 cup), picked over
1/4 lb. cooked baby shrimp

To make the base (from Sarah):
"Blend the first 7 ingredients together (from tomatoes to stale bread). I like to use my hand blender because that is what we used in Spain, but a regular blender works just as well. I prefer the mixture to be blended very well and have tiny chunks instead of a thicker, bruschetta size blend. After mixture is blended, add 3/4 cup of ice cold water".

Stir lime juice and hot sauce into gazpacho base until well mixed. Gently stir in onions, cilantro, avocado, and crab and shrimp. Chill for at least one hour, to allow the gazpacho to cool and blend all the flavors.