This story is part of On Repeat, a series in which we ask top chefs, cookbook authors, and other famous foodies about the dishes they just can’t quit.
For this week’s installment of On Repeat we talked with Ellie Krieger—award-winning cookbook writer, TV host, and our go-to expert on keeping grub fresh in the heat—to find out what planet-friendly favorite she whips up on the regular. Krieger, who Substacks at Ellie’s Real Good Food, tapped her go-to gazpacho, a chilled summer soup that makes the most of the season’s peak produce. “I start making it when tomatoes show up at the farmers market,” she says. “You can definitely make it with supermarket tomatoes, but the tomatoes really carry it, so if they’re good the whole thing’s going to be good.”
Why I love it
“People can get intimidated by the word gazpacho because it sounds like maybe it’s difficult or fancy, but it’s really just like making a smoothie with vegetables. I put a little bread in mine. It’s optional, but I like the way it makes it super creamy. Traditionally it’s white bread, but I put whole grain in. It works great.
“It’s a make-ahead dish: I love having it in the fridge, because I can just take a mugful as a snack, and if I have friends come over it’s right there and I can serve it. I make soup every week of my life—it’s comforting and nourishing and filling—and this gazpacho checks all those boxes.”
What I’ve changed
“I like to go off script in life in general, but I love this gazpacho, so I really don’t mess with it. My husband likes it chunky and I like it smooth, so the compromise is that I make a smooth gazpacho but pull out some cucumbers and peppers before blending, to chop up and keep on the side to throw in for him. (I don’t keep the tomatoes as part of the chunky stuff, because if you chop them up in advance they get a little mushy.)”
What else I’m into right now
Paper towel alternative. I bought these cheap cloth towels and I use them to wipe down counters and pat down produce, and they’re easy to throw in the wash. I use so many fewer paper towels. [Editor’s note: If you’re interested in making the switch, check out one5c’s fool-proof method for curbing your paper towel habit.]
Greens galore. I’m thinking differently about parts of foods I might normally toss. Particularly this time of year, it’s the leaves of things: beet greens, radish greens, carrot greens, all those tops. They’re delicious in pesto or thrown into salad, or sautéed. I’ve started making carrot-top pesto.
Reusing bags. I reuse produce bags from the market. I have a little pile of them in a drawer in my kitchen, and I bring them with me to the store. I know there are all these mesh ones you can buy, but reusing the ones I have is a step in the right direction.