Fresh Tomato Gazpacho: Cold Soup for Hot Days

I cannot deal with cooking when the weather is this dang hot. But I still want to make food. So, that means lots of salads and lots of gazpacho! Traditional gazpacho includes stale bread as part of the soup; many newer recipes call for processed things things like a can of V-8. My version skips the bread and thickens the soup with lots of fresh produce, making it much less caloric, higher in fiber and more nutritious. It's a great way to add more veggies to your daily intake. If you're looking to lose some weight, try having a cup of this before your meals; you'll fill up on the gazpacho allowing you to be satisfied with smaller portions of your meal.

Oh, and did I mention it's ridiculously easy? All you need is a blender and you're pretty much good to go.

Ingredients

yields approximately 1 liter

• about 2.5 pounds of ripe tomatoes
• 1 bell pepper (I usually use red or yellow)
• 1/3 English seedless cucumber
• 1/4 red onion
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt, to taste
• diced avocado, minced red onion or cucumber, croutons for topping

Halve or quarter large tomatoes and remove any stems; I use a mix of vine-ripened tomatoes and some grape tomatoes, for a nice blend of different tomato flavors. 

 

Cut the cucumber into chunks. Remove stem and seeds from pepper and cut into large chunks. Add the olive oil and lemon juice to your blender.

Toss in all the cut veggies and peeled garlic cloves.

Puree until you reach the texture you prefer. If you can't fit all your veggies into the blender at once, just blend what you can fit and keep adding the chunks until it's all in. Add salt, to taste. Put soup in airtight container and chill for at least an hour before serving. I like to top mine with some croutons, chopped avocado, diced red onion and cucumber, or grilled shrimp.