Healthy Everywhere: Broccoli-Pineapple Gazpacho with Roasted Red Pepper Noodles

A refreshing chilled soup to beat the summer heat. This gazpacho is made in the early morning when the kitchen is still a cool place to be, and chilled until serving time. Sprouted sunflower seeds and fresh water are whirled in the blender to make a high-energy nut milk. Broccoli florets, lightly steamed, and cooled are mixed with sunflower seed 'broth', fresh pineapple chunks and a hot red pepper. The gazpacho has a smooth texture and a sweet, piquant flavour. At mealtime, roasted red pepper noodles, sliced black olives, fresh-snipped garden chives, and a sprinkling of hemp hearts add a special touch to each delicious bowl of summer-fresh soup.

You'll need: For the gazpacho--1 large head of broccoli; 1 cup of fresh pineapple chunks; 1/2 cup soaked and lightly sprouted sunflower seeds; 3 cups fresh water; 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce; 1 small hot red pepper; For the noodles--1 large or 2 small sweet red peppers; few grains Himalayan salt crystals; 1/2 cup stale bread, torn into pieces; 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon olive oil. For the Garnish--1 tablespoon hemp hearts; 5-6 large pitted black olives, thinly sliced; fresh chives, to taste.

Method:

Soak 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds in fresh water for 2 hours. Drain and let sprout in fridge overnight.

Wash and seed sweet pepper. Cut into thin strips and place skin-side up on a baking sheet. Lightly dust with a sprinkle of salt crystals. Grill until skin is wrinkled and beginning to blacked. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Peel off skin and chill pepper slices.

Cut hot red pepper into medium-size pieces.

Wash broccoli, break florets into pieces and lightly steam broccoli. When tender-crisp, rinse with cold water, and set aside to cool.

Remove skin from pineapple, and cut into chunks. Place sunflower seeds and 3 cups of fresh water in the blender, and process for 1 -2 minutes, or until 'milky'. Add 1 cup cooked broccoli, 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks, 1 teaspoon tamari, and hot red pepper. Blend until the texture suits your taste, either velvety smooth, roughly chunky, or anywhere in between. Chill blender jar full of soup in refrigerator until just before serving. Peel and finely chop garlic cloves, and add to olive oil. Place stale bread pieces in a small bowl and drizzle with garlic/oil mixture. Set aside to marinade.

To Serve:

Remove soup from fridge, add garlic/oil bread, and blend for a few seconds to combine ingredients. Pour soup into individual bowls, stirring a portion of sweet red pepper noodles into each serving. Top each portion with a generous helping of hemp hearts. Float black olive slices on top of gazpacho, snip fresh chives over soup and serve. An excellent light summer supper. Serves 4 -6 people.