Beyond Trim: Gazpacho is great way to use those tomatoes

If you have a garden, you might be dealing with a plethora of produce right now. And if you grow tomatoes, they might be piling up.

I love to eat what’s in season, and fresh tomatoes are one of my favorite summer treats. It’s the best time of the year to eat things such as bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches or caprese salads (sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella with basil and olive oil).

Another way I like to use tomatoes in the summer is in a soup called gazpacho. It’s a soup that is served cold, so it’s a great one for hot temperatures, and it looks like we might have another stretch of that coming up.

This recipe is very easy. Everything goes right into the blender, and you can process it to your taste. I like to leave some texture, but you might prefer to blend it longer until it’s smoother. The recipe makes eight generous servings at about 100 calories per serving.

Gazpacho

• 2 pounds of ripe red tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 mild yellow banana or other pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 small onion, cut into chunks
• 1 cup of vegetable juice cocktail
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
• Salt to taste (I start with ½ teaspoon because the vegetable juice cocktail has salt)
• ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Add all the ingredients except the olive oil to the blender and process until it reaches the desired texture. At the end, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the blender is running until the oil is emulsified. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator.

This soup will taste better a day or even two days after it is made, so it’s great to make ahead. You can serve it as is or with a variety of toppings. My favorite toppings include chopped cucumber, charred sweet corn cut off the cob, avocado and crumbled feta cheese. If you have cash to spare some shrimp or crabmeat, those go very well and help turn it into a nice light lunch.

Gazpacho is a classic recipe with Roman origins that became very popular in Spain. Give it a try, and savor the flavor of summer for little bit longer.

• Sherry DeWalt is the healthy lifestyles coordinator for the CGH Health Foundation in Sterling.