Arthritis Friendly Recipe: Green Gazpacho

It's a bit too hot to do much cooking with arthritis here in London. I swelter every time I even look at the kitchen so we have been living off salads, cold soups, creative sandwiches and a little bit of BBQ-ing. I love a refreshing gazpacho soup and this green version is no exception. It's particularly nice with wedges of toasted pitta bread.

I find it easiest on my wrists to make this with a hand-held blender. If you choose to  use a food processor you may find it's not totally smooth - it doesn't matter, you can call it authentically rustic.

Ingredients:
300g low fat yogurt
1 large cucumber, roughly chopped (no need to peel or de-seed)
1 small clove garlic
30g almonds 
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
150ml water
Handful of mint or other herb of your choice to serve

Serves 2-3

Place all the ingredients in a blender or food-processor and blitz until very well combined and almost smooth. Chill for 2 hours and serve with a sprinkle of mint.


Arthritis diet notes:
This is a light and healthy soup for anyone with arthritis. The yoghurt provides a good source of low-fat dairy and important bone-boosting calcium. Cucumbers provide some anti-inflammatory vitamin K (read more about the role of vitamin k in arthritis here) and the almonds are rich in vitamin E. If you want to up the vegetable content of the soup, try adding baby spinach leaves or a raw green pepper. If you aren't a yoghurt fan, you could add cannelini beans instead to enrich the soup.

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