Gazpacho Soup

Ahhh Gazpacho - the perfect summer soup! Gazpacho is widely popular in Spain and Portugal, and is served chilled as a refreshing meal. I do like tomato-based soups, as seen from previous posts, and when I saw this recipe in my Fitness magazine for only 215 cals per serving, I had to try it.

REVIEW: I made this soup pretty much per the recipe exactly, which is rare (the more cooking I do the more I like to tweak recipes!) and it turned out really well. Okay I did make one change, I ran out of tomato juice at 6 cups (even though i thought i had way too much by buying the enormous can) and added water to make it the right consistency. This soup works well to make at the beginning of the week, as it can be chilled in the fridge for several days and nothing will go mushy or stale, actually the flavors will blend together deliciously over a few days. I had it chilled in the fridge for an entire night and day before eating, and I noticed that the flavor changed, I ended up adding more salt and hot sauce to spice it up. I also defrosted some cooked salad shrimp to up the protein (although it's not reflected in the nutrition stats).

RECIPE:

1/2 cup EVOO

4 tablespoons lemon juice

8 cups organic tomato juice

4 large ripe tomatos, cubed

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

4 stalks celery, diced

1 large yellow or green bell pepper, diced

1 medium cucumber, diced

1 cup corn (frozen or canned or fresh)

small bunch cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

hot sauce to taste

sliced avocado (optional topping)

In a large (and I mean BIG) serving bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Pour in tomato juice and stir to mix. Add vegetables and cilantro. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce before serving. Garnish with sliced avocado and serve. (per serving: 215 cals, 14g fat, 4g protein, 22g carbs, 3g fiber)