Gazpacho

Every family has its own rituals in times of crisis. In my family, women make gazpacho. It takes no time (if you have a food processor, but honestly, who doesn't), and chopping it all up WILL make you feel better. Guaranteed. Also, this is delicous and has VERY few calories, whcih is great for nervous appetite, preggie munchies and comfort eating. When I was pregnant I guzzled down litres of this to keep my weight under control and it worked wonders.


Ingredients:
12 very ripe red tomatoes
1 onion
1 cucumber
2 sweet red bell peppers
2 stalks of celery
1 tablespoon fresh chives
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 3 limes
1 teaspoon dried chilli pepper (admittedly my "preggie munchies" recipe has A LOT more chilli than this - people kept telling me how bad it was until I pointed out it might be bad, but it's SO much better than munching on chocolate bars/kebabs as so many pregnant women do). 

Peel the cucumber, get rid of the stringy bits of the celery. Chop all the vegetable sup and put them in the food processor. Blitz until it is as smooth as you would like it (I like it a bit chunky, but my mom's version is mor elike a smoothie). Add all other ingredients. Blitz again. Pour in a jug and keep in the fridge.


Thsi is served by putting a thick slice of bread at the bottom of your bowl (the bread should be stale and toasted) and pouring the gazpacho over it. Wait for a few minutes for it to seep though the bread an then dig in, it will have aquired a delicious spongy consistency that makes it chewy but not gross at all. This is a great entree for a summery dinner party, followed by stuffed courgettes and home-made pineapple icecream.

Granted, you could just put this in a glass and eat spoonfuls of it as it is. Incidentally, kids LOVE this. Which is great because with one bowl they've gotten all their coloured vegetables for the day (which are full of good things and vitamin C).

What were your worst preggie munchies? Did you try to get around them or did you give in?