While many people are sighing in relief that the summer is over around Labor Day here in Northern California, if you are not close to the ocean, August and September are the two hottest months. From what I read it’s due to seasonal lag when the Pacific Ocean reaches its peak temperatures causing the marine layer to dissipate and ocean breezes to subdue. This also allows for dry, off-shore winds to develop such as the Santa Ana winds and wildfire season to be at its worst. Therefore we are trying to keep the house cool by having gazpacho.

This is my quick and easy version of gazpacho. Serves 2 to 4 depending on the bowl size.

Into a blender add-

• 1 14 oz. can diced or crushed tomatoes
• 1 can original Rotel
• half of a peeled cucumber with seeds removed and cut in chunks
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Start on mix and work your way up to purée. Taste. Add more salt if needed. If it is too thick add a little water. If it’s not spicy enough add hot sauce. If you have actual tomatoes you can add a couple to the puree-ing step. Chopping up some additional cucumber and green onions and halving a few cherry tomatoes to put on top will make it look fancy. It will have some texture but that’s the way we like it. Refrigerate it for an hour or two.