Gazpacho is yet another perfect dish for your diet while pregnant. Since it is made almost entirely from raw vegetables it will nourish you and your baby with many important vitamins and minerals which, and it won’t take more than a few minutes of your time to prepare. You will need a blender, though…
Why is it good for pregnancy diet?
One of the main reasons which make the gazpacho such a great dish for your pregnancy diet is because of the tomatoes which are the gazpacho’s basis.
The tomato is an extremely healthy fruit, for pregnant women and for the general public. It is rich with vitamins A, B6, C, E, and K, antioxidants, plenty of minerals such as copper and iron, and much-much more. In practice, all of those good nutritious ingredients which the tomato contains will help to improve you immune system, lower your blood pressure, delay aging, and will improve your health in many other ways. No wonder so many pregnant women have tremendous cravings for tomatoes during their pregnancy… their body just knows it’s good for them…!
The other ingredients in the gazpacho are also great for your diet while pregnant. The bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin C and antioxidants, the cucumbers are a great source of minerals, and the greens will provide you with plenty of vitamin K and other good ingredients which will strengthen your body and help your and your baby’s health.
The fact that the dish is made from mostly raw vegetables rather than cooked or heated is one more point for the gazpacho – when food is cooked some of the nutritious ingredients it contains vanish or destroyed. The gazpacho wins one more point thanks to its liquid texture, and this is because the human body can absorbs nutritious ingredients in the best manner from liquid-textured foods (health-shakes, sounds familiar?).
Ingredients
4 fresh tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1/3 bundle of parsley or coriander
1/3 bundle of basil
½ onion (optional)
4 celery stems
2 cucumbers
Slat, pepper
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
2 spoons of lemon juice or wine vinegar (optional)
1 spoon of olive oil
Preparation
- Chop all the vegetables and greens in a big bowl, much like preparing a salad. You may want to put aside 2-3 spoons of the chopped vegetables – they will be used later for decoration while serving.
- Blend all of the vegetables in the bowl thoroughly, until they turn into a homogeneous liquid. If it is too thick for your taste, add some water.
- Add the salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice/vinegar.
The gazpacho is now ready! Some people enjoy cooling it in the fridge for a while, or even to put in it an ice cube or two when it is served. A nice way to serve it is in a soup bowl, decorated with some of the chopped vegetables you kept aside, 2 leafs of basil and a small spoon of olive oil.
