Cherry Tomato Gazpacho with Mint Pesto Croutons

I’ve gotta vent for a second: it’s SO hot where I live! I know that it gets hot when you live in the desert, but for some reason I forget about that during the non-summer months and it seems to surprise me every time June and July roll around.

Recipe

Ingredients

For the cherry tomato gazpacho:

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 3 vine ripe tomatoes roughly chopped
• 1 medium hothouse cucumber roughly chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper roughly chopped
• ½ white onion roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the mint pesto croutons

• 2 cups spinach or your favorite greens
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons chopped cashews or your favorite nut
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic minced
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups diced bread

Instructions

• Place all of the gazpacho ingredients into a blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade. Blend until desired consistency is reached. I like mine a little chunky but you can make it as chunky or smooth as you like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the greens, mint, nutritional yeast, cashews, olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade and blend until combined, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Add ¼ cup of pesto and the diced bread to a medium sized bowl and mix until all of the bread is coated. Transfer bread to the parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake until crispy, 10-12 minutes, flipping once.
• Ladle the gazpacho into bowls. Top the gazpacho with croutons and a spoonful of extra pesto, if desired.

Nutrition