We made it to Mallorca! I am so unbelievably happy to be here again. The sea, the sun, delicious seafood, seeing familiar faces in the little town where we stay, I’m loving it. In these Corona times though, everything is a little stranger than it usually is. You have to wear masks wherever you could meet other people, so everywhere except your own home basically. The beach is an exception, thank goodness! A lot of shops have closed down, including our favorite tiny bakery, which is a real loss. The traditional Sunday market is much smaller than usual, due to the social distancing rules. Usually beaches and restaurants are super crowded in July and crazy full in August, so the upside is that everything is fairly empty. And since I prefer staying healthy, I don’t really mind the rules very much.
I made a lovely Green Gazpacho for lunch today to celebrate our arrival and I am dying to share it with you guys because it was so good!
Cukes, green peppers, green apple, chives and other green goodness make up this gazpacho, which of course would not be complete without the best Spanish olive oil, Jerez sherry vinegar, garlic and onion. I served it with fried eggplant chips, but do you know whose idea that was? My Insta food blogger husband! 😂 He thought they would go well with the gazpacho and right he was. I do believe I have trained him well! He’s a keeper.
xoxo Donata
Ingredients
Serves 4- 6
1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup onion (about 1 onion), peeled, halved and cut into chunks
1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup loosely packed cilantro (substitute parsley if you don’t like cilantro!)
1/2 cup (20 g) chives
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
Combine cucumber, pepper, garlic, onion, apple, cilantro and chives in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
With the motor running, add the vinegar, salt and lemon juice. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will emulsify. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy.
Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.
Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper and vinegar. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons of ice water. Serve in glasses with a few drops of olive oil if desired.
