Gazpacho (Chilled Summer Soup)

You will need a blender to make this soup; and you'll need to start it in advance to allow time for chilling. The vegetable stock can be made with a cube or powder - just put the right amount of water and stock cube or powder into the blender with everything else.

Makes 1 ¼ litres (Serves 4)

• 225g (8oz) tomatoes (3 large)
• 1/3 cucumber (about 100g, 4oz)
• 1 small (sweet) green (bell) pepper
• 1 small (sweet) red (bell) pepper
• ½ small onion (about 50g, 2oz)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 400ml (16 fl oz, 2 cups) tomato juice
• 150ml (4 fl oz, ½ cup) vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives or mint or both

1. Dice the tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers. Reserve about a quarter of each for garnish, and put the rest into the blender. Finely dice the onion and garlic, and add these to the blender too.

2. Pour the tomato juice, stock and wine vinegar into the blender and blend until smooth. Mix in the reserved vegetables and the herbs, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3. Serve with croutons or French bread if desired.