Gaucho Gazpacho!

Yea! It’s Friday! I just got home from a five mile walk to and from the library where I picked up a few books and an avocado (at the grocery store) for a recipe I was working on today. It’s beautiful out and my BFF Lynn and I are planning to sit on her back deck this evening and enjoy some champagne! In honor of the death of Elaine Stritch, we plan on getting drunk tonight, since we weren’t able to “lunch” with our ladies today… it only seems fitting! Just kidding!… or am I?!

Speaking of reading, I was looking through my husband’s huge portfolio of recipes today when I landed upon this yummy Gazpacho dish. There’s nothing cleaner than eating a bowl of fresh veggies, marinated in tomato juice with a slice of avocado on top! Am I wrong? No! I am not! If you’re not familiar with Gazpacho, it’s a soup made of raw veggies and served cold. It’s wonderful on a hot day because it’s quite refreshing and cooling. The dish itself originated in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia- not Italy! Just because it ends in a vowel, doesn’t make it Italian my paisanos! Since it’s so hot, I’m planning on pairing it with this delicious white wine blend from Trader Joe’s. It was $3.99! RUN! Go get some!

I tweaked Andy’s recipe just a bit because he would’t let me post his secret ingredient… and I really wanted to add celery, which I love but wasn’t in his original dish. Marriage is all about sharing eh? I want to thank my fellow yoga teacher and friend Willie Richarson for the FREE veggies I used to create this dish. He grew them locally at Lamplight Gardens and they were delish! This dish is super easy peesy to prepare and while it was marinating for one hour, I took that walk… and here’s what I picked up…!