3. Be Careful with Oil
Some gazpacho recipes call for the addition of olive oil in the ingredients. Olive oil is rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats – excellent for heart health and cognitive function. Olive oil contains oleic acid – a beneficial fatty acid that enhances your health. Oleic acid reduces digestive inflammation, improving the health of your GI tract.
We recommend that you use pure, unfiltered, extra-virgin olive oil in your recipes. This class of olive oil comes in a dark glass bottle to protect the beneficial fatty acids from UV rays which denature the fats, turning them rancid.
While using extra-virgin olive oil in your recipe is a good idea, be careful with the quantity. Oils contain 9-calories per gram of weight, as opposed to the 4-calories found in carbohydrates and proteins. This nutritional fact means that they provide more energy per serving. As a result, this could lead to a high-calorie count in your soup. We recommend you use half the amount called for in the recipe your making.