There is nothing better on a hot summer’s day than ice-cold, refreshing Gazpacho soup!
What I love about this super simple recipe is that no cooking is required. All you need is a blender, ingredients, and that’s it!
TIP: if you have access to a farmer’s market, or a local CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) farm, you will be blessed with a much wider variety of fresh produce than you would typically find in a supermarket. For the soup in the accompanying image I used deep purple basil leaves (just think of all those wonderful cancer-fighting phytonutrients this bright color delivers!), and a mix of red and orange/yellow tomatoes.
The anti-cancer fighting lycopene in tomatoes becomes more readily available to the body if tomatoes are cooked. I submerged mine in boiling water for the length of time it takes for the skin to start peeling away from the cross I marked on top of each tomato with a sharp knife, depending on the size of the tomato anywhere from 4-8 minutes. I really don’t know if that is enough “cooking” to satisfy that additional benefit, more likely not, but I simply do not want to miss out on all the rich nutrients farm fresh tomatoes (skinless) have to offer! And this delectable soup…
Enjoy!
- 10 medium-sized tomatoes
- 3 cucumbers, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 medium red or white onion
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ cup basil leaves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ freshly squeezed lemon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
- 10 swirls with the black pepper mill
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- OPTIONAL: 2-3 shakes Adobo seasoning blend (Frontier brand)
- OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon coconut aminoes liquid seasoning
- Best if you de-skin the tomatoes for better digestibility. Score an x over the top of each tomato, place in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Covering completely. Wait up to 5 minutes, remove with slotted spoon, allow to cool for a few minutes, then easily peel off the skin and discard. Chop into cubes.
- Peel the cucumbers, de-seed with a small paring knife and spoon, and chop into small cubes.
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl and combine well.
- In batches, puree ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth. You may need to add water or vegetable stock (home-made stock is awesome here!). Collect the liquid soup in another large bowl, adjust the spices if necessary, may need more salt.
- Store in refrigerator and serve cold.
