Gazpacho! A wonderful summer soup

Ingredients

• 2 lbs garden tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (directions for peeling below)
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded
• 1 onion, red or sweet, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/3 c olive oil
• 1 lime or lemon, juiced
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• basil leaves, optional for garnish

Instructions

1. Fill a large pot halfway with water and place on high heat. When boiling, pierce each tomato several times with a sharp knife. Lower into the boiling water.

2. Remove when the skins have started to peel back, or "slip" and place in cold water until the tomatoes are cool enough to handle.

3. Peel the skins off the tomatoes, core, and cut at each of the seed pockets. Scoop out the seeds, leaving just the flesh. Chop into chucks.
4. In a blender or food processor, place the cucumbers, pepper, jalapeno, onion, garlic, and some of the oil. Process until finely ground, but not pureed.

5. Pour into a bowl, and continue processing the tomatoes as you did the other vegetables with the remainder of the olive oil. Mix all ingredients, adding the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Chill and serve with basil leaves and a swirl of balsamic vinegar.

6. Chill and serve with basil leaves and a swirl of balsamic vinegar.