Summertime Gazpacho

My mom used to make this, and I still love it. This cold soup is the ultimate summer veggie dish. Every year I wait until the tomatoes are ripe and fresh off the vine to enjoy it.

Summertime Gazpacho

Ingredients:

4 tbsp lemon juice (takes 1 or 2 fresh lemons)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
4 cups tomato based vegetable juice (like V8)
4 large tomatoes peeled and diced (this is messy, but it is worth it to not have the texture of the peels)
4 stalks of celery diced
4 celery leaves minced
1 cucumber peeled and diced
1 bell pepper seeded and diced
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

This recipe takes a lot of chopping (unless you use a food processor) but it all goes in one bowl. I use a large glass mixing bowl that has a lid.

Start by adding the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne and whisking them in the bottom of your mixing bowl. Then add the vegetable juice and whisk again. Then chop all the veggies and the cilantro and add them to the juice. This is a great cold soup, especially after some time to chill and the flavors combine. I like to top this soup with some kernels of corn or avocado slices.

Today I had this for lunch with a quesadilla. I had made tortillas for breakfast and had some daiya cheese on hand as well as beyond meat, which I tried for the first time last night. With some pico de gallo and avocado cream ... this was a wonderful summer meal.

For 10 servings
Nutritional Information from caloriecount.about.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 230 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  56 Calories from Fat  16

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  1.7g 3%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  505mg 21%

Total Carbohydrates  9.7g 3%

Dietary Fiber  2.3g 9%

Sugars  6.0g

Protein  1.7g

Vitamin A 40% • Vitamin C 103% Calcium 2% • Iron 10%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet