Gazpacho

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh basil

6-8 green onions

2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp minced garlic

one yellow pepper, cut into large pieces

46 oz 100% tomato juice*

2 cans 14.5 oz no salt added petite diced tomatoes**

1 tsp ground black pepper

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

8 baby cucumbers, washed and cut into large pieces***

1/2 tsp fresh ginger****

2 cups to 4 cups reduced sodium fat free broth of choice (beef, chicken or vegetable)

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a food processor puree the basil, green onions, garlic, and yellow pepper.

2.  In a large bowl, add the puree to the tomato juice and blend well.

3.  Add the two cans of petite diced tomatoes, the black pepper, the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil, and mix well.

4.  In the food processor finely chop the cucumbers.  Add to the tomato juice mixture with the ginger.

5.  Add the broth one cup at a time until the gazpacho is at the consistency you like.  We like a thicker soup and only use 2 cups, but I have friends who like it to be of thinner consistency and I have added up to four.

6.  It’s best if you chill the soup for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to meld.

* Make sure you do buy just 100% tomato juice which will just be tomatoes and water.  A lot of the “juices” out there have so much other added “stuff”.

**If you don’t want to use canned tomatoes, you can certainly peel, seed, and dice 4 cups of fresh tomatoes.  You can also use regular diced canned tomatoes, but the chunks will be larger.

*** I like the baby cucumbers because I use them as is, skins and all.  If you use regular cucumbers, you’ll need to peel and seed them.

**** I keep fresh ginger paste/puree in the fridge which is always at the ready for me to use, but you can certainly peel and put in a small sliver of fresh ginger root.