Gazpacho, a summery Spanish chilled vegetable soup, does double duty by countering hot temperatures with a cool dish and incorporating a bounty of fresh, healthy seasonal produce. Adding grilled vegetables is a simple way to elevate the sweet-acidic flavor with a touch of smokiness. Using Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry BBQ Rub™ subtly enhances the complexity of your soup with hints of fruit and smoke. Prepare this dish one to two days ahead to allow its flavors to blend.

What You’ll Need

• 4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 2 large red bell peppers, cored and quartered
• 2 large yellow bell peppers, cored and quartered
• 2 large tomatoes (or 5 plum tomatoes)
• 2 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/2 inch thick
• 1 large white onion, cut into 1/2-inch slabs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry BBQ Rub™
• 1 cucumber, peeled
  • 1st half: seeded and cut into chunks
  • 2nd half: thinly sliced
• ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 cup tomato juice
• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Heat your grill to medium-high. Put the garlic cloves onto a wooden or metal skewer. Lightly brush the garlic, bell peppers, tomato, zucchini, and onion with vegetable oil and lightly season with salt, pepper, and BBQ rub. Grill vegetables over moderately high heat, turning frequently, until lightly charred for about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Transfer the peppers and tomatoes to a bowl, cover with plastic and let steam for 10 minutes. (This step finishes the cooking process and loosens the skins on the peppers.)

Remove garlic cloves from the skewers, peel them and transfer to a large bowl. Peel the peppers and add them to the bowl, discarding seeds. Peel the tomato, cut in half along the width, and squeeze out the seeds. Add the tomato to the peppers along with chunks of cucumber, zucchini, onion, cumin, tomato juice, orange juice, lemon juice and vinegar.

Working in batches, puree the vegetable mixture by pulsing in a blender. A blender will produce a smoother puree compared to a food processor. Pour the gazpacho into a clean bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Serve the soup at a cool room temperature but not fully chilled. Before serving, stir the cilantro into the gazpacho. Ladle the soup into bowls. If desired before serving, garnish each bowl with fresh lemon zest, cilantro sprig, and a teaspoon each of chopped grilled zucchini and fresh tomato.