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            Garden Soup With Crab

• 3 1/2 cups regular or spicy tomato juice, preferably
• unsalted
• 1 ear fresh, tender corn, husk and silk removed
• 2 pounds very ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely
• chopped
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large cucumber, halved, seeded and coarsely
• chopped
• 1 large green or red bell pepper, seeded and
• coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• Tabasco , to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 pound crabmeat

Pour about 1 1/2 cups of the tomato juice into an ice cube tray and freeze until solid.
Trim the stem end of the corn ear and set the ear upright on the chopping board.
Use a sharp knife to cut away a few rows of the kernels at a time, turning the ear
until you have cut away all of the kernels. Put the corn in a small bowl and set aside.

Put about half the tomatoes, onion, cucumber and bell pepper in the work bowl
of a food processor and work the vegetables until finely chopped. Do not thoroughly purée them,
as you want to keep some texture and crunch. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and process
 the remaining vegetables with the garlic, parsley and olive oil. Stir this mixture into the bowl along
with the remaining tomato juice. You can also prepare the soup In a blender, chopping the vegetables in 4 to 5 batches.

Season the soup to taste with Tabasco , salt and pepper and chill until ready to serve.
 Ladle the soup into soup bowls and sprinkle with the corn kernels.
Arrange the crab decoratively over the soup and add the tomato juice ice cubes.
You may also want to pass the Tabasco separately for those who prefer extra-spicy flavors.

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