Love for Food

I wanted to make something that marked the start of the warm weather. The first thing I thought of was gazpacho. I became obsessed with gazpacho during a trip to Spain. I tried some because it was the local speciality but thought I'd hate it. I hate tomato juice, V-8, Bloody Mary's, and the like. I use to compare tomato juice to cold pasta sauce. Gazpacho is disgusting. Who wants to eat that? But I was wrong. People love or hate it, and with one bite I was in love.

This year I decided to put a new twist on my old recipe. I took some ideas from a recipe I found on the Whole Foods website. I made the recipe exactly as is and thought it was horrible! It was way to sweet. Since it's not cooked it was easy to adjust. I threw in a little more of this and that. In the end I was happy. The new "tropical" version had a sweetness my old version didn't have. My version of tropical gazpacho is a bit more savory and spicy with a hint of sweet. If your more of a sweet person some great add ins are chopped up mango, papaya, etc. I ate this as a light and healthy dinner, served with some crusty french
bread.

Ingredients: serves six
3 cups Spicy V-8 juice
1/2 purple onion finely chopped
11/2 cups pineapple juice
1 1/4 cup chopped pineapple
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice (or vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin

Method:

• Mix everything in a pot or large bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours. *I like nice sized pieces of veggies to chew on but this would also taste great pureed in a blender or food processor.

Nutritional Facts: Amount Per Serving
Calories 95.6
Total Fat 0.3 g (YAY!!)Saturated Fat 0.0 gPolyunsaturated Fat 0.1 gMonounsaturated Fat 0.0 gCholesterol 0.0 mgSodium 72.8 mgPotassium 653.3 mgTotal Carbohydrate 22.2 gDietary Fiber 2.6 gSugars 17.1 gProtein 2.0 g
Weight Watcher Points: 1 (YAY!)