Gazpacho is a light, cool, refreshing soup from Spain. The Spanish call gazpacho, “Salad.” This uncooked vegetable soup is usually made from a pureed blend of fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and bread crumbs or soaked crumbled bread. There are so many ways to make it. It’s said that if you had thirty Spanish cooks in the kitchen, there would be thirty different versions of gazpacho! I’m using a quick step of sautéing the garlic first in olive oil before adding to the blender of veggies. This really enhances the fresh garlic flavor. In addition, I’m serving it with a medley of chopped vegetables for garnish. You might be wondering why this gazpacho has a blush color instead of a vivid red. It’s due to using yellow sweet peppers, which soften the color. With just 101 calories a cup and 3 grams of fat, this soup is a delicious and simple way to eat a ton of veggies in one fell swoop!
Ingredients for Gazpacho:
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic cloves, minced
- 6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 slice whole-wheat bread, wheat sourdough, regular sourdough, French bread, crusts removed, soaked in water, and squeezed dry
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper or to taste
- Several drops of Tabasco, to taste
Ingredients for Toppings:
- 1½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
- ½ cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup scallions or onions chopped
In a small nonstick pan, heat olive oil. Add minced garlic and sauté about 1 minute until slightly brown.
In a large bowl, mix together tomatoes, yellow peppers, onions, cucumbers, vinegar, bread, sautéed garlic and oil.
In batches, puree mixture in the blender until very smooth. Pour into a large bowl.
Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco to taste.
Place in refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Chop topping vegetables and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
To serve: ladle each serving into a small bowl. Top each with a variety of chopped vegetables. Or, bring all the veggies to the table, and let everybody top their own.
Makes 6 servings (1 cup each)
Food Facts
Gazpacho originated in the southern region of Andalusia, Spain.
Dating back to 1824, in an old cookbook called The Virginia Housewife; Mary Randolph included a recipe for gazpacho. Her recipe was probably the first gazpacho recipe published in America.
Healthy Benefits
Yellow peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C and contain a fair amount of vitamin A and calcium.
Cucumbers are over 90% water. They contain a significant amount of vitamin C and potassium.
Tomatoes are extremely rich in antioxidants especially Lycopene as well as vitamins A, C, and K.
Scallions contain a significant amount of vitamin C and some B6.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 1-Blue
WW SmartPoints 1-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 3
SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving (1 cup each) 102 calories, 3g fat, 0g sat. fat, 0mg chol, 4g protein, 20g carbs, 4g fiber, 145mg sodium, 2g sugar |
FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 45 calories, 0g sat. fat, 1g sugar, 1g protein |
Serving: 1cupCalories: 102kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 3gSodium: 145mgFiber: 4gSugar: 2gBlue Smart Points: 1Green Smart Points: 1Plus Points: 3