Garden Gazpacho Soup

Summertime is the perfect season to discover fresh, locally-sourced produce or even to try your hand at gardening! This refreshing gazpacho recipe is centered around the vibrant flavors of fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers.

Ingredients

• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 cucumbers, peeled
• 2-3 slices of stale bread
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil, minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 cups low sodium tomato juice
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• Hot sauce (like Tabasco), salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Score the skins of the tomatoes and put them in a pot of boiling water for about 15 seconds. Pull them out and slide the skins off. Cut the tomatoes into quarters to remove the seeds, then coarsely chop.
2. Chop the bell pepper and peeled cucumber. Soak two to three slices of stale bread in water for a couple of minutes, then squeeze out the excess water.
3. Next, put the bread and chopped vegetables into a food processor along with the minced garlic, basil, rosemary, red wine vinegar and lime juice. If you like gazpacho with more body, leave out a handful of the veggies, mince them and add back to the soup at the end. Otherwise, puree the entire mixture until smooth. Leave the machine running and slowly add 2 cups of low sodium tomato juice along with 1½ cups of low sodium stock (vegetable, chicken, or beef) and ½ cup of olive oil. If you like a brothier soup, thin it by adding more stock.
4. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce as desired, then refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. The flavors will marry and improve over time, so taste for the salt, pepper and hot sauce after a while to see if it needs more. As a finishing touch, garnish the gazpacho with a drizzle of your best olive oil or low-fat sour cream to your taste.

Nutrition facts (per serving):

Yield: 6 servings

Serving Size: 1 cup; Calories 245; Total fat 17.5g; Cholesterol 2mg; Carbohydrate 24.5g; Fiber 3.3g; Protein 3.8g; Sodium 75mg