Recipe - Fresh Tomato Soup Wcrunchy Vegetables

2 One half pound Tomatoes, ripe, red
2 tablespoon Olive oil
2 cup Onion; chopped
2 Garlic cloves; minced
2 lg Celery stalks; minced
3 cup ;water
One fourth cup Basil, fresh; chopped
2 tablespoon Dill, fresh; chopped
1 teaspoon Mustard, dry
2 cup Tomato juice, or as needed
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

CRUNCHY VEGETABLE GARNISH
1 lg Bell pepper, green; finely
minced
1 lg Corn ear; cooked until just
done, and kernels scraped
off cob
One half cup Cucumber, crisp; seeded and
finely minced
2 tablespoon Basil, fresh; minced
dr Olive oil

Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a large soup pot.
Place the whole tomatoes in the water and cook for one minute. Drain, and
when the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off; chop
tomatoes, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons water in a large soup pot. Add the
onions, garlic and celery and saute over moderate heat, stirring
frequently, unti the onion just begins to turn golden. Add 3 cups of water
and bring to a boil, then simmer over moderate heat, covered, until the
onions and celery are quite tender, about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes,
basil, oil and mustard. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the tomato juice and lemon juice and season to taste with salt and
pepper (salt carefullyyou may not need any at all if the tomato juice is
salted). Allow the soup to cook to room temperature, then puree in batches
in a food processor or blender untilsmooth. Chill before serving.

Just before serving, combine all the ingredients for the crunchy vegetable
garnish ina small mixing bowl.
Ladle the chilled tomato soup into bowls and divide the garnish over the
top of each.

Vegetarian Celebrations by Nava Atlas/MM by DEEANNE

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini