Paleo Oven-Roasted Tomato Gazpacho with Guacamole

I love going to my local Farmers Market on Sundays. I recently discovered one that is pretty much a stones throw from my apartment. After a couple of very hot days in LA, I was craving something refreshing and decided to try my hand on gazpacho. I found all but one ingredient at the Farmers Market. Most of the gazpachos I’ve tasted have a very strong tomato flavor. I wanted to add a new depth by roasting the tomatoes in the oven to give the soup another depth of flavor and also combat the raw tomato taste. Yes I’m weird and dislike tomatoes. I have attempted to force myself to eat them because of the health benefits, but it never really works out. I like hiding tomatoes and other veggies in dishes, but gazpachos a great way to showcase vegetables. I can’t wait to make new versions of this gazpacho already. I’m thinking more spice and maybe avocado oil.

4 vine-ripe tomatoes, quartered

1 medium cucumber

1 zucchini

4 mini-sweet red bell peppers

1/2 medium red onion (mine was huge! so I only used 1/4)

1/2 jalapeño, deseeded and deveined

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 olive oil, plus more for drizzling

3 cups vegetable juice

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 haas avocado, diced

1/4 medium red onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 jalapeño, diced

1/2 juice of one lime

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place quartered tomatoes on baking pan. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Put in oven for 30-35 minutes. The edges of the tomatoes will be slightly brown. Remove and let cool.

Cut all veggies into large chunks. I placed each veggie separately into my blender and pulsed for a few seconds until finely chopped then remove and place into a large bowl. You don’t want to over process the veggies until they’re juice! Repeat with all vegetables, except garlic. You want to have some texture to the soup. Lastly place cooled roasted tomatoes into the blender.

With all blended veggies in a large bowl, add the olive oil, vegetable juice, red wine vinegar and garlic. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours to let the flavors meld together. Serve is a dollop of guacamole!

For guacamole, simply place all ingredients into a bowl and mash avocado with a fork. I like mine a little chunkier. You can also adjust the spice level by deseeding and deveining the jalapeño if you want. I like mine spicy!

x vanessa