Tomato Benefits – Gazpacho

I’ve been cooking a lot with tomatoes but haven’t really gone into the benefits of the vegetable, I mean fruit – it’s actually a berry! Unfortunately, it’s also a night shade plant; so if you avoid night shades – that’s a bummer. I’ll talk about that some other day. But the benefits of tomatoes far outweigh any negatives.

You may remember the ketchup (or was it spaghetti sauce?) commercial where they pointed out that the tomato product is a source of lycopene. That’s one of the antioxidants that give some produce their color and protects our cells. Lycopene is highest in cooked tomato products (tomatoes of various colors) and room-temperature watermelon. Lycopene has been linked to decreasing diseases of inflammation such as cancers, heart attacks, osteoporosis,^[1] and strokes.^[2] It prevents the formation of compounds, like interleukin-6, associated with depression.^[3],[4] Tomatoes are high in folate, which also decreases depression and birth defects,^[5] and magnesium, another key mineral in reducing depressive symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, and stress.^[6]

They also have vitamins A, C, E, K, B1, B3, B6, potassium (as much as a banana), copper, manganese, and many others.^[7] So hurray for tomato season! I have a bunch of tomatoes that I need to use – they’re gathering fruit flies, and they lose their flavor if you put them in the frig.

Gazpacho is a Spanish tomato soup that really showcases fresh garden produce, including your herb garden. If you have a ton of cilantro and tomatoes, you have to make this soup. And if you have a fresh cucumber you’ll be in heaven. Leftover gazpacho is the best because the flavors have more time to combine, so it’s really best if you can make this the night before you want to serve it. It has a lot of ingredients, but all you have to do is chop and mix everything together. Notice I’m using a glass bowl because metal will react with the tomatoes and cause a metallic flavor. Store leftovers in the frig tightly covered.

For this recipe, I remove the tomato skins and peel the cucumber and make an effort to leave out some of the seeds. You can add tabasco, red pepper, or chopped chili peppers if you want to spice it up. I had three pounds of tomatoes which came to 3 cups chopped; you need at least six good size tomatoes, most of mine were small.

These pictures show the process of chopping everything and then all of the ingredients mixed together except the tomato juice.

Gazpacho
3 C chopped tomatoes
½ C onion
1 cucumber
1 bell pepper
2 stalks celery
¼ C fresh cilantro
2 T fresh parsley
2 T fresh chives
1 crushed clove garlic
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C olive oil
3 T orange juice
1 t paprika
1 t Worcestershire
4 C tomato juice
Finely chop and combine all ingredients.