I’m a crab sign.
Admittedly, I can be crabby. Like when some dude at the gym is reading TIME magazine on the captain’s chair. Really? You can’t do that at home?!
Despite the astrological connection, the last time I ate crab I was 7. We were at the beach and my dad paid me $1 for every crab claw I could eat. I ate 10 claws. Greed > Gag
That was the last time I ate seafood until this year. Incidentally, I also didn’t eat tomatoes until recently. In another dad-related traumatic event, he gave me a big slice of tomato and told me it was watermelon. I happily took a bite before choking it back up. Talk about being crabby… not cool, Dad.
Thankfully I grew out of that.
Things I still won’t eat: caviar (he told me they were mini grapes) and sour cream (thought I was eating a spoonful of ice cream).
I also won’t east white potatoes, though I don’t remember a traumatic event associated with those.
I’m glad I did get over the crab and tomato hatred. This tomato-based gazpacho is a tasty soup, and the meaty crab gives it the protein to fill you up.
One my favorite parts about gazpacho is its resemblance to salsa. In order to leave those delicious chunky pieces of tomato and pepper, I reserved some of the soup when I blended the base. After pureeing part of the mixture, I manually stirred in the rest of the remaining chopped veggies.
The other fun component here is the addition of liquid smoke. It adds just a touch of… well, smokiness… as if you’d first roasted the tomatoes over wood chips. It’s a fantastic way to add more flavor to dishes without adding salt.
If you don’t eat seafood, you can leave off the crab. If you do eat seafood, you will love the rich, slightly sweet crab again the spicy soup. Another option would be to top this with tempeh bacon, or possibly a firmly pressed tofu marinated in sweet citrus.
Either way, don’t skimp of the cilantro. It’s wonderful with the late-season tomatoes and tangy lime. (Unless you don’t like cilantro… in which case parsley would be a fine sub!)
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Crabby Smoked Gazpacho
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 c diced red onion
- 1/2 C fresh cilantro
- 1/2 jalapeno
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1/2 large red bell pepper
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 T white wine vinegar
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 5-6 drops liquid smoke (optional)
- Crab
- S & P, to taste
Place garlic, onion, and cilantro in blender. Roughly chop remaining vegetables into 1 inch cubes.
Add 2/3 to the blender. Pulse briefly to coarsely puree the contents.
Add remaining 1/3 of vegetables, vinegar, lime juice, and smoke. Manually stir to combine. Chill before serving, as the flavors develop the longer gazpacho sits.
To serve, top with fresh crab meat, fresh cilantro, and pepper.
Makes ~3 cups.
***
I still get crabby if I fall for something silly. Scarred for life. 😉
Did your parents ever trick you into eating something you didn’t like?
What food(s) will you absolutely never touch?
Yum! That looks amazing. You have to try white potatoes! I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love them.
I have tried them in several forms… they make me gag. Weird, I know!
This looks delicious! I 100% agree with you about the liquid smoke thing, I have a little bottle in my fridge and its one of my all-time favourite “secret ingredients” to add to a dish!
Luckily I was never tricked (as far as I know), but I think the tomato/watermelon trick would have traumatized me as well. Gross!
Oh, and I never skimp on cilantro. 🙂
I’m a fish, but I still get crabby. Mostly when I’m hungry. I love seafood – always have. I think it has to do with my former love of anything fried. Seafood could be fried, so I acquired a love. Now, I eat it fresh whenever I get a chance!
Same here – I’m the queen of “hangry.”
I. Won’t. Touch. Oysters 🙂
Now crab? I touch. A lot.
No oysters here either! Too slimy.
Being from Maryland, I’ve always loved crab. Well, maybe not always but since I was a teenager at least. The only thing I can think of that my parents tricked me with was my dad told me that Eggplant Parm was lasagna. I still don’t like eggplant. Hmm.
They ruined us!
Your dad was awesome. Those are the types of “tricks” you have to pull sometimes just to get kids to try new things…sometimes it works out, but in your case it seems to have created some long standing issues 🙂
I don’t think I was ever tricked, at least not that I remember so the scars may have healed. As for foods I won’t touch, prior to becoming vegan, would have been oysters and clams…they are just yucky and slimy. i feel gross just talking about them.
Your gazpacho looks delicious, as always. Happy Tuesday Laura!
I don’t know… it scared me for a good 20+ years. 😉
I’ve never tried liquid smoke to recipes, but have heard it’s such an awesome secret ingredient. Thanks for sharing yet another awesome recipe. I don’t know how your able to give us new ones day after day!!
Awwww… thank you! When you eat 7 meals, you kind of have to get creative. LOL!
I tricked myself when I was a kid–thought I was stealing my mom’s hot chocolate, took a big gulp: COFFEE. Didn’t drink coffee for the next 10 years. Now I drink too much. Go figure. I’ve always loved tomatoes, though. And I only have a few overripe, sad fall tomatoes left in my garden 🙁 Why have I never thought to add liquid smoke to tomato-based stuff before? That would be a perfect flavor combo!
Ewwwww! that would have scared me too. Thankfully my dad liked lots of cream and sugar.
There must be something with dads and trying to trick their daughters. My dad told my younger sister and I that fried calamari was little onion rings, and we both ate them. YUCK! He also used to tell us that the brown spots on bananas were brown sugar… Not nearly as gross as the calamari, but still very tricky 🙂
That calamari trick was cruel! LOL!
oh gosh I am such a crab person so I am saving this recipe!
That’s hilarious that your dad would trick you! I think you are missing out on some pretty good foods. I eat pretty much anything, but I will NOT eat fat (on steaks for example). Some people think that’s the best part. I give it to my dog instead!
I love gazpacho- that sounds so good right now. Fresh and hearty, but still light. Oh man, a spoonful of sour cream thinking it was ice cream? Gag! I was not a picky eater growing up, so I can’t say my parents ever had to ‘trick’ us… glad to hear you came out of the crab and tomatoes phases… I can’t imagine life without tomatoes! 🙂
Haha, I love your post title & the tales of your food traumas 😉 This gazpacho looks fantastic! I will never touch liver or mussels – just the thought of those makes me shiver in disgust.
I’m with you there… no mussels or oysters or clams. *shudder*
i’ve been making crab cakes like crazy! i bought a container of the fresh crab meat from TJs last week and i need to use it faster! how long do you think its good for after you crack open the can? it’s such a big can!
I’m not sure… mine had a date on it. I’d think at least a week? You can probably freeze it!
Ooooh this sounds wonderful, love the addition of crab.
I can’t believe all the crazy things you don’t like to eat, so funny! It’s kind of like my watermelon hatred. 🙂 Love gazpacho and the addition of crabs make sense here. I’m easing back into this seafood thing slowly, it still makes me squirm a little. 😉
Watermelon is WAY more strange to not like than caviar. 😉
That looks delicious, minus the crab ha ha. My parents used to trick me about once a day into eating stuff I hated. Veggies, fruits, any protein. I don’t know how I survived as a child since all I liked was white bread and yogurt…yep, healthy;)
Haha! I wouldn’t even eat yogurt. My mom says my picky eating stunted my growth.
I had spicy crab gazpacho at dinner on Friday night!! Man- it was SO good. And you know I love crab (Ummm…. I’m a Maryland girl… it’s a requirement).
Sidenote: I freaking love your recipes. I have a good feeling that you are GOING PLACES, my friend. 🙂
You rock. A lot.
Also, one day I’m going to crash your place and eat fresh crab. And craft beer.
I hate to admit this, but I have never had gazpacho. This looks so good, though, and making me rethink that I should try this.. I love all the ingredients in it so no reason not to love this. HA your food trauma’s crack me up.. like you, I also HATED tomato’s and remember gagging as a little kid when they were on a sandwich. Now I like them, ha.
You have to try it! It’s like tomato soup… but doesn’t pair as well with grilled cheese. 😉
I do not eat raw tomato up until today! I tried very hard to ovecome this but with no success. On the other hand I love cooked tomato and crab meat! Your gazpacho looks so good and if I cook the tomato just a little bit then i am sure it would be divine for me!
You could definitely roast them first!
Lovely gazpacho my friend! I didn’t start eating crab until I moved to the east coast. I wouldn’t have touched it with a 12 foot pole before I moved to Philly. Now I can’t get enough of it. So delicious!
Side note: Come over and see how I did at the Warrior Dash. It was so much fun!!
That sounds amazing! Incredible color and flavor combination. The more cilantro, the better is my motto!
My parents tricked me into eating meat when I was in high school. I was vegetarian in high school for a while and they did not like it. I was horrified. Oh well, I got them now…
You crack me up. Do they still want you to eat meat?
Please come over and make this for me. Thank you. You can be crabby if you feel like it. I won’t say a thing. 😉
Sure thing. After the soup we can chew dessert gum together. 😉
Looks wonderful… cilantro and tomato are the best of friends.
I’m a crab too!!! 🙂
my parents told me that popcorn shrimp was “fried bread”. I was terrified and sick when I bit into and saw what it was!!
Crabs unite!
Popcorn shrimp would have scared me too. Thank god my dad din’t eat that.
Aww! I’ve eaten crazy things as a kid, I guess they were normal for a Russian person. Yes, caviar was something we had once in a while. I also had cow tongue and liver (still eat it), but one thing that scarred me was when my parents tried to feed me pig brains. That was too much :S The Gazpacho sounds lovely! I’ve had it for the first time this summer in Madrid and it was amazing!
I have actually tried tongue before (in Italy) and loved it. However, the thought of what it is keeps me from eating it again. 🙂
Wow your gazpacho definitely looks like it satisfied your inner crab 😉
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Holy traumatic food experiences! There’s nothing worse than that feeling you get after you realize you’ve been duped like THAT! My parents never intentionally tricked me, but when I my little sister was born, my family was on WIC. Because of that, we always had a friggin’ stockpile of Juicy Juice in the house. One afternoon, as I opened my lunchbox, I was so excited to see that my mom had packed what I THOUGHT was a sippy cup filled with sweet tea. One gag-inducing sip later, I realized it was most definitely NOT sweet tea and instead cranberry grape Juicy Juice! Talk about a shock to the system! Lol
Foods that I won’t touch (but HAVE tried at least once): mussels, caviar (holy salt attack), and vienna sausage!
But what I NEED to get my hands on is some tomatoes and crab so I can make this ASAP!! Looks beyond incredible! And as far as I’m concerned, the more cilantro, the better! 😀
To this day I cannot stand grape juice (unfortunate Truth-or-Dare incident).
Just looking at Vienna sausages creeps me out. And Spam.
My father tricked me into eating horseradish instead of mustard at a very young age…never been a fan since. Bastard.
That would have been a terrible shock. Maybe even worse than sour cream.
My parents tricked me into eating mussels and I still won’t touch them.
Your Gazpacho looks delicious. I made some earlier this summer but with temperatures currently in the 50’s, I’m craving warm soups.
The “slimy” seafoods are still out of the questions for me. I gave oysters another chance last year, but no dice.
Already in the 50s?! The only reason I like that weather is hot soup. Well, and boots. 🙂
Orange chocolate. Orange desserts. Nausea.