So as a part of my post-Asia diet, I swore off of foods with added sugars in them. Which is a lot of things, considering the fact that I primarily am a pastry person. In an attempt to eat better, I wanted to make something that was sugar-free, vegan, gluten-free, and still high in protein. So you know, very nutritious. While it is not entirely hard to do that, it is challenging to make something that is all of those things, but also does not taste like a wheat grass shot mixed with protein powder. And that’s where this recipe came in. A personal food hack of mine, with savory cooking anyways, is to blend garlic confit into a sauce, puree, or marinade, and use that on other ingredients. Confit garlic, being slow-cooked in oil, is caramelized, nutty, full of umami, and sweetness. It only ever seems to add to the flavor of things instead of detracting. Which is why I personally love it! I was thinking of what to use that in a recipe, when I thought about what ingredients that are vegan, gluten-free, and high in protein. Obviously, the gluten-free rules out seitan, but tofu manages to fit the bill. And what else fits that bill? Edamame or soy beans, aka the beans that tofu is made of! I love making edamame hummus, so the idea of making something similar to that with confit garlic, which is such a great flavor bomb, just made sense. Initially I was going to make a hummus, but since I had not as much edamame on hand, and I happened to have a block of edamame-flavored tofu, the end result was a thinner, soup-like consistency. So I chilled that down, and we have gazpacho instead of hummus. Hummus or gazpacho, I would eat still eat this recipe off a shoe if I could, because of how tasty it is. However, we’ll do several notches better here, and serve it with some other delightful things to add to the soup itself.

To start, we blending the edamame with an edamame-infused tofu, nutritional yeast, and the garlic confit, with some of that confit garlic oil, which will add another punch of umami to the gazpacho itself. What I love about the soup is that the tofu adds a silky texture, and the bright green color of it, from being infused with edamame, works well with the edamame being blended in on top of it. The nutritional yeast is an ingredient that adds like a cheesy flavor to the soup, and it is an ingredient often used in vegan cooking to add that savory umami quality to vegetables in lieu of dairy. Now for the other aforementioned delightful things, I am also including socca, also called farinata. Socca is a kind of flatbread made with chickpea flour. It originates from France, and it manages to be gluten-free, vegan, and full of protein from being made out of chickpea flour. I first admittedly heard about socca when Emily(from seasons 9 and 12 of Masterchef) made it for our vegan challenge. Ever since, I looked into what it was, and have been making it ever since! I love that the socca adds a vehicle for the dip, while also compounding on the protein content in this recipe! I made the socca into little disks, just so that they would be easier to place along the soup like a crouton almost. To round out the dish, I included fresh edamame, sumac for some citrusy brightness, nasturtiums for pepperiness, some confit garlic oil to bring in a little more richness, and fleur de sel to finish. Honestly, this kind of dish would be something I would serve as an amuse bouche or as a soup course in a tasting menu, just because of how flavorful yet light it is.

For the garlic confit:
2 heads of garlic, peeled and separated into individual cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
a pinch of salt

Cook the garlic in the olive oil and salt in a pot, on low heat, covered, for 1 hour.

For the edamame gazpacho:
12oz edamame-flavored tofu
4oz fresh edamame
2 tbsp garlic confit oil
6 cloves confit garlic
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
a generous pinch of salt
a pinch of thyme
a pinch of oregano
a pinch of sumac

In a blender, puree everything together until combined. Refrigerate until time to plate.

For the socca flatbread crisps:
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp garlic confit oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of sumac

In a bowl, mix the ingredients together into a batter. Pour the batter onto a heated cast iron skillet in 1 tbsp-sized portions, allowing them to cook on each side. Cut into 1/2 inch-sized disks. Toast the disks at 375 degrees F for 5 minutes.

To garnish:
Edamame
Sumac
Nasturtiums
Reserved garlic confit oil
Fleur de sel

Start with a small mound of the edamame in a bowl. Pour the gazpacho around that. Garnish the top with sumac, fleur de sel, garlic confit oil, the socca crisps, and nasturtiums to finish.