Grill the vegetables for this refreshing soup earlier in the day or even the night before. We sometimes serve the gazpacho in clear Spanish wine tumblers to show off the rich color.

Makes 6 servings, 1 scant cup each

ACTIVE TIME: 35 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 35 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
1 small red bell pepper
1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded, divided
1/2 cup torn fresh or day-old country bread (crusts removed)
1 small clove garlic
2-3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon piment d’Espelette (see Ingredient Note) or hot Spanish paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. Grill tomatoes and bell pepper, turning a few times, until they soften and the skins are blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pepper to a plastic bag and let it steam until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skin; cut the pepper in half and discard the stem and seeds. Place one half in a blender. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and roughly chop. Add the tomatoes, skins and all, to the blender.
3. Add half the cucumber to the blender along with bread, garlic, vinegar to taste, parsley, piment d’Espelette (or paprika or cayenne), salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Add oil and blend until well combined. Refrigerate until room temperature or chilled, at least 1 hour.
4. Before serving, finely dice the remaining cucumber and bell pepper; stir half of each into the gazpacho and garnish with the remaining cucumber and bell pepper.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 84 calories; 5 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 219 mg sodium; 405 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Vitamin A (35% dv).

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 vegetable, 1 fat

TIP: Ingredient Note: Piment d’Espelette is a sweet, mildly spicy pepper, from the French side of the Basque region, ground into powder.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Stir to recombine and garnish just before serving.

I cheated and used one 28 oz. can of whole, fire-roasted tomatoes and a few jarred roasted red peppers. I drained the tomatoes and reserved about 1/3 cup of the juice, which I added to the blender. The soup was good, very zesty, flavorful and refreshing. It went great with Catalan Sauteed Polenta and Butter Beans from this site.

Beth, Milwaukee, WI