White Bean Gazpacho

Gazpacho is such a great summer soup!  It is a cold soup and uses summer tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers, Vidalia onion, and basil, all of which might be in your garden!  The addition of cannelloni beans makes this a filling meal.

White Bean Gazpacho—Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 large ripe tomatoes (about 4 pounds)
• 2 large cucumbers, peeled, halved, seeded, and diced
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, peeled and diced small
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (*See variation.)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped basil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans, or one 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed

Directions:

Coarsely chop 2 of the tomatoes and puree them in a blender.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Chop the remaining 4 tomatoes and add them to the bowl.  Add the cucumbers, red pepper, onion, red wine vinegar, lemon zest, basil, salt and pepper, and beans and mix well.  Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Variation: 

*Make a spicy version of this soup by adding 1 or 2 finely chopped jalapeno peppers, replacing the basil with chopped cilantro, and replacing the red wine vinegar with the zest and juice of 2 limes.

Note:  When I made the soup I added 1 jalapeno pepper, and I replaced the red wine vinegar with the zest and juice of 2 limes.  Next time, I will replace the basil with cilantro, too.

White Bean Gazpacho

This is such a healthy, tasty soup!  It looks different from most gazpacho soups because it is not all pureed.  But, it is delicious with the chunky vegetables and the beans.  You may need a bit more liquid in this soup.  If so, just puree an extra tomato.  I hope you enjoy this summer soup!