Creamy Tomato Gazpacho

     Over Christmas, my mom and I went on a Caribbean cruise. It was fun, but honestly, I think my favorite part was the food--specifically all the different flavors of gazpacho. They had classic tomato and even more dessert-like flavors like mango, cranberry, and blueberry. Sometimes it was like drinking a milkshake and calling it dinner. I have never been a huge fan of most flavors of hot soup, and I think that's because I'm one of those people who always feels too warm. Especially in the summer, cold soup is really refreshing. I have a theory that Panera could make a killing selling gazpacho in the summer, but while I'm waiting for them to catch on, I'll just make it myself. So just as I've been doing with ice cream, I'm going to start inventing different flavors of gazpacho. Today I'll start with tomato. This recipe makes about 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
5 tomatoes
1 small cucumber
2 cloves of garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 green onion
a few leaves of fresh basil
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
1 1/4 cups orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
6oz plain Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Clean and chop the tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, red pepper, green onion, and basil. Peel the cucumber, but the other skins can stay on.

2. Puree all the non-tomato veggies in a blender or food processor first.

3. Remove that puree from the blender and puree the tomatoes. Then add the yogurt and blend more.
4. Combine the two purees in a large pitcher. Then work in batches to blend it all one more time until it is very smooth. Add a little bit of the already-crused ice to each batch before the final blend. When you finish blending one batch, transfer it to another clean pitcher.

5. Now add the sugar, orange juice, salt, and pepper to the pitcher and stir well with a spoon. This is the time to taste-test and adjust since everyone's veggies can have different degrees of sweetness. Refrigerate and shake well before serving. 

I know you all must be in shock right now that I actually made a completely healthy recipe. Don't worry, tomorrow I'm making cookie dough ice cream!