Just Another Reason to Love Veggies

When you think of vegetables you probably don't right away think of the word "delicious." The truth is, you can do so many different things with them! Let's talk about why vegetables are important and a delicious way to eat your daily dose.

Stating the Obvious

From a young age, we are taught that vegetables are a necessity to be happy and healthy. So many different vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber are found in this area of the food pyramid, so they cannot be ignored! In a world where unhealthy food is so accessible, it's easy to forget that healthy options can be just as convenient when done right.

Some of the different vegetables you should consider adding to your diet include spinach, cauliflower,zucchini, broccoli, peas, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, pickles, carrots, cauliflower), tomatoes, garlic, onions, alfalfa sprouts, bell peppers, and seaweed.

All of these stand out as far as being extremely nutritious and can be combined to make amazing meals! In this post, we are going to be looking primarily at tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell peppers. So, what are we making?

Gazpacho: Your New Summertime Go-To

If you are looking for a delicious, refreshing, and healthy meal, look no further than gazpacho. This is a chilled soup that is made primarily of vegetables and is tomato based. The consistency of the soup is totally up to you. If you like it chunkier, you will blend it for less time than those who like it soupier.

The recipe we love calls for:

This is the more authentic way of making it – basically, everything is hand-done. However, there is a much simpler and time-saving way to make it and it tastes the exact same!

Instead of peeling and dicing the tomatoes, just buy a large can of diced tomatoes and throw it into a food processor. Chop your cucumber and onion into fourths and throw them in with the tomatoes. The garlic should be minced before including it in the mix, in case the food processor doesn't grab the bigger chunks. Add the rest of the ingredients and voila! As mentioned above, if you prefer a chunkier texture, don't blend the mix for too long in the food processor.

If you love this recipe, you can always double it and keep it in the fridge. Gazpacho keeps well, so it is great to have on hand!