Gazpacho

Although I'm not usually a fan of cold soups (somehow in my mind soup = hot.) I do enjoy Gazpacho every now and then. I got a great price on some local tomatoes and decided this weekend was the time. Especially since I had my little helper around. This made a very thick, slightly chunky soup. If you want it thinner add more V8, tomato juice, whatever and if you don't want chunky put everything in the blender. I like a little texture to mine.

• 2 pounds tomatoes (approximately)
• 1 Vidalia onion
• 3 stalks celery
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 6 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 cups V8 (approximately)

Roughly chop all the ingredients to put into a blender (big dice). As I chopped each ingredient I minced some and set it aside since I wanted my soup a little chunky.

Add veggies to blender in batches and blend well. Remember to add the balsamic and V8 to the last batch.

After all the blending is done add the remaining diced veggies to the pot. Be sure to give it a good smell and enjoy all those fresh veggies.

Stir well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better). Serve cold.

Enjoy!