This cool, summer soup sounded good to me because it didn’t involve any cooking, and it has been so hot these past couple of days! This is a “raw food” recipe. You may have heard about all the health benefits there are to eating raw. I’ve read a little about it, although I’m no expert on the subject.

I found this recipe over at Beach House Kitchen and modified it slightly. I loved the way it tasted! I actually liked it much more than I thought I would. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though, since I love all the ingredients in this soup…tomatoes, red pepper, onion, garlic, basil, avocado…but I think my favorite ingredient is the sun-dried tomatoes. They really make this soup wonderful!

This soup is so easy to make, too–all the ingredients are mixed in a blender, then you just pour it out and serve. It’s the perfect super-easy, super-healthy summer meal!

TOMATO BASIL AVOCADO SOUP adapted from Beach House Kitchen

Makes two cup-size servings (3/4 cup per serving; for two “large bowl” servings, double the recipe)

• 4 medium size tomatoes, cut into fourths
• 1/2 of a sweet red pepper (seeds removed), chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (use the ones that are packed in oil in a jar–I used julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes, so I didn’t need to chop mine)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 of a medium-size yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup well-packed basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 of an avocado, cut into chunks
• dash of salt to taste (optional)
• additional basil leaves, whole or chopped, for garnish

Put all ingredients in a blender and pulse until ingredients are well-blended and mixture is just slightly chunky (you may have to stop the blender once and help the mixture along with a spoon). Pour into soup cups or bowls, garnish with additional basil leaves, whole or chopped, and serve immediately.

NOTE: This soup doesn’t take long to blend, especially if you have a high-power blender–it just took mine a minute or two to blend all the ingredients. If you have a lower-power blender, it may take a little longer. 

This is only the second cold soup I’ve ever made–I’ll have to try more of these out! Have you made any cold soups? Or have you tried out any raw food recipes lately?