This recipe is a wonderful way to celebrate tomatoes on a hot summer night. Note – it’s super easy to make if you have a juicer (for making the tomato juice) and if you have a Vitamix or similar blender. 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups tomato juice. If you have a juicer, you can make fresh tomato juice in it. You can also purchase organic strained tomatoes.
• 2 chopped red tomatoes (remove the seeds if you’d like)
• 1/2 cup minced red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium bell pepper, minced
• 1 peeled, seeded, diced cucumber or 2 small Persian cucumbers, peeled and chopped
• 2 scallions, finely sliced
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño, minced and seeded (adjust for your preferred level of spiciness)
• 1 cup minced celery
• Juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 lime
• 2 T vinegar, white wine, champagne or balsamic
• 1 Tsp. each dried tarragon and basil, or 3 Tbsp. fresh
• 1/2 to 1 Tsp. cumin
• 1/4 cup freshly minced parsley
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Directions:

• Make the tomato juice with a juice or by hand, squeezing the tomatoes
• Add all ingredients through the lemon and lime juice into the Vitamix, blender or food processor, if using. Process on low for 30-40 sec. Otherwise you can simply stir the ingredients.
• Add the remaining ingredients (from vinegar on), stir, chill for an hour or so. Serve and enjoy!