Cool, fresh, and clean eating this summer.

It may be 100 degrees and swampy in the District. But that doesn’t mean soup season is over! This Gazpacho is so light and refreshing. It pairs perfectly with a salad for a summer lunch, as an appetizer to your dinner, or as its own meal with some toasted garlicky bread. It makes A LOT, so is best shared. But if you’re living alone or none of your friends like cold soup, rest assured, a single gal can eat this up all on her own.

Note 1: The original recipe from the wonderful Ina Garten calls for a food processor, which I am not adult enough to have yet. If you would like to go that route, then you can instead roughly chop the cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onion and put them into your food processor. Pulse it until coarsely chopped, but not overprocessed. This will give you a finer gazpacho, whereas mine tends to be chunkier.

Note 2: The recipe also calls for tomato juice. I have not had any luck at finding this in Trader Joe’s. The first time I made it, I opted for their Trader Joe’s Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup, and it turned out great. This time I found their Garden Patch Vegetable Juice, which also turned out very good. Less tomato-y in flavor, but lighter than the soup. Feel free to experiment!

*yields about 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled

• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded

• 4 plum tomatoes

• 1 red onion

• 3 garlic cloves

• 3 cups tomato juice

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup good olive oil

• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Prep: Dice cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onion. Mince garlic.

2. Mix: Combine vegetables in large bowl. Add garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

3. Blend: Using an immersion blender or a full blender, blend mixture as desired (about 1-2 cups). You’re not trying to blend it all, just a bit to release some of the flavor and create a thicker base of soup. You still want chunky vegetables in there.

4. Enjoy: Chill before serving. The longer it sits, the better the flavors blend together.