Enjoying the heat in Cabo San Lucas…We brought a picnic on the boat – Gazpacho from a local cafe!

This week is going to be hot hot hot!   Summer brings some of the best local produce available! There is nothing like eating crisp raw vegetables from the garden.  Yesterday while visiting my Mom, she picked pea pods right out of her backyard organic mini farm – they might have been the best vegetable I’ve ever eaten raw.  I couldn’t stop eating them – so cool, sweet and refreshing – wish I took a picture to share with you!

Beautiful Summer Tomatoes!

One of the eating principles I try to follow every day is to eat something raw for breakfast, lunch and dinner, even if I am eating something cooked as well. For breakfast, I almost always have a fresh raw vegetable juice and/or raw fruit. At lunch I’ll munch on collard wraps, veggie sticks or other salad greens. At dinner I try to make red pepper slices or celery stalks my appetizer while I cook or make a salad to go along with whatever we are eating. Eating something raw really helps to get your digestive enzymes working and will help you feel full faster preventing you from overeating. Not to mention, raw vegetables are the most nutritious foods you can put in your body. Period.

The most important reason I eat raw vegetables is because I want to keep my body in an alkaline state. When your body is in an alkaline state your chances of developing disease is significantly lower than a body in an acidic state. This is because your body is made of up of billions of cells that are naturally alkaline according to it’s ph balance. When you consume more acidic foods vs. alkaline foods this upsets the balance and leads to all sorts of trouble for your body and it’s metabolism.

Here’s a great chart that lists out the foods that are alkaline vs. acidic.

Alkaline vs. Acid Food Chart

Wonder why we have an increasing rate of cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and other autoimmune disorders in America? If you look at the chart, you’ll see the typical American diet consists of mainly acidic foods – lots of meat, dairy, alcohol and processed foods.

Gorgeous Gazpacho

This gazpacho is super alkalizing and has so many fresh raw vegetables and herbs, your body will be singing with energy after just one bite!

Try this recipe and you’ll see you don’t need the traditional bread or crème at all – this is as good as it gets y’all!

Food Babe’s Cup O’ Gazpacho

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 5 cups ripe tomatoes diced (~8 tomatoes)
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 tbsp fresh chives minced
• 1 tbsp fresh basil chopped (About 6 leaves)
• 1½ tsp of balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 large seedless cucumber diced
• 1 green pepper diced
• ¼ red onion diced (About ¼ cup)

Instructions

1. Place 1 cup of diced tomatoes, lime juice, jalapeno, garlic, herbs, spices and salt in food processor or high speed blender to make the base of the soup – puree until smooth
2. Add the rest of the diced tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and red onion to base and stir well to combine
3. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow time for the vegetables to absorb all the flavors
4. Serve with diced avocado and celery sticks on top (Optional)

Notes

***Please note all ingredients are organic***

3.2.1682

Food Processor makes this so easy!

Chop your veggies in the same size dice to make the gazpacho uniform

Cucumber is super slimming for summer – easing any water retention you might be carrying from the heat and humidity!

Preparing the gazpacho for an appetizer to enjoy with friends on the porch…

You eat with your eyes! Make your gazpacho stand out by placing it in clear glasses, adding celery stems and diced avocado for garnish

Cup O’ Gazpacho Cheers!