Gazpacho

By mhatkinson

Ingredients

• For the soup:
• 4 ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion, peeled, poached 1 minute in boiling water, drained and quartered
• 3/4 medium cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (use the rest for garnish)
• 3/4 large carrot, coarsely chopped (use the rest for garnish)
• 3/4 large green pepper, seeded and quartered (use the rest for garnish)
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 tablespoons dried
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice, to taste (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, to taste
• 3 cups cold V-8 juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, 1 small jalapeno, seeded or 1 banana pepper, seeded
• For Garnish:
• 1 cup cubed tofu
• 1/4 cup minced cucumber
• 1/4 cup minced green pepper
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 3 medium mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
• 1/2 cup alfalfa, mung or lentil sprouts
• 2 to 3 green onions, white part and green, chopped
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 50mins

Preparation

Step 1

Place all the vegetables and herbs in one bowl and the lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil in another. Using the V-8 juice and the lemon juice mixture to liquify, puree the vegetables in batches in a blender until smooth. Pour each batch into a bowl or plastic container. When all the vegetables have been pureed, stir the batches together and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cover and chill, either for a short time in the freezer or for a longer time in the refrigerator.

For the garnish, mix together the tofu, cucumber, green pepper and tomato. Have the mushrooms, sprouts, green onions, sunflower seeds, and yogurt in separate bowls. Place a spoonful of the vegetable-tofu mixture in each serving bowl and spoon in the soup. Lay a few mushroom slices on top add a dollop of yogurt, a handful of sprouts and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds, and serve, passing the green onions in a bowl.

Note: If you don't have time to chill the soup, you can add an ice cube to each serving.