It was unseasonably 91 degrees the other day –highly unusual for April here– so thought turned to cold soup. From our harvest last fall, I still had a lot of frozen tomatoes that needed eating, and why not thaw some of those frozen strawberries while I was at it? The result was good drizzled with some cream.

(Since using frozen tomatoes and strawberries, I thawed them on a cookie sheet as shown below, before making the soup.)

This soup will even be more welcome when tomatoes and strawberries are fresh in the coming months. I used the yellow cherry tomatoes I had, but red ones would work just fine too.

I used a tablespoon of balsamic, which I thought was maybe a little too much, so start with less and see what you think; some of you probably like balsamic better than I do. I’ll probably use a teaspoon from now on.

Strawberry Gazpacho Recipe

4 cups cherry tomatoes
4 cups strawberries, stems removed
6 large basil leaves
1/4 fresh lemon juice
1 Medjool date, pitted
1-3 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 cup good olive oil
cream for drizzling garnish (optional; omit if vegan)

In a blender, combine the first six items, and whirl until smooth.

With the blender still going on low, drizzle in the olive oil, to allow it to emulsify.

Serve immediately with a drizzle of cream.

Tastes like summer is coming!

Enjoy!