Easy Green Gazpacho is a Beautiful "Bowl of Summer"

George Mendes is a man of few words and many egg tarts. The chef—of New York's Aldea and Lupulo—came through the MUNCHIES test kitchen a couple weeks ago bearing a mountain of Portuguese-style pasteis and a completely open mind about what he was going to make.

We took him through our garden to see what might catch his eye.

The answer? Snap peas, cilantro, mint, a giant head of butterhead lettuce, borage and nasturtium and their respective flowers, and a handful of beautiful, tiny Reine des Valles strawberries.

Once inside, Mendes announced he was going to make a lettuce gazpacho. "I've never made it before—let's try something new." In the kitchen, he found a red onion, some white wine, and some golden raisins, and set to work.

The strawberries got halved and set aside, while the onion got diced and went into a pot with a splash of olive oil to cook down. Once the onion softened, a glug of wine went in, along with the raisins, then, once they'd plumped up, the heat got turned off and the mint and cilantro went in.

Meanwhile, the lettuce and nasturtium leaves got a quick blanch in a pot of well-salted boiling water, then a dip in another bowl of ice water.

Once the greens were wrung out and squeezed, they went into a blender with the onion mixture and some water, and then were puréed until smooth.

Once the seasoning is adjusted, it's basically time to plate. The soup gets topped with sliced snap peas, along with the strawberries, nasturtium and borage flowers, and a final drizzle of olive oil.

The end result is gorgeous, sharp, and bracing, and, as Mendes put it, "looks just like a bowl of summer."