Gazpacho

I love gazpacho. It's perfect on a warm day, cool, crisp & light. Add some crusty bread and it can be a meal.

We like chunkier gazpacho in our household; the pureed kind is good but we prefer some texture. After a too-long wait due to weather, tomatoes are looking great at the farmer's market and I stocked up on most of my necessary gazpacho ingredients Sunday for tonight's dinner. Mmmm.

Here's my favorite recipe:

Chunky Gazpacho

6+ c coarsely chopped tomato (about 3+ lb, I like to use a mix of heirlooms, diff colors)

1 (32-oz) bottle low-sodium tomato juice (I use RW Knudsen Very Veggie, Organic, Low-Sodium)
2 c coarsely chopped & peeled cucumber (about 2 medium)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 1/4 c finely chopped sweet onion or red onion
1 c finely chopped celery (approx 1-2 ribs)
1 T olive oil
Balsamic vinegar to taste
1 T sherry vinegar, optional
1 T rice vinegar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp hot sauce, optional
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used a few tsp of crushed garlic)

Oregon pink shrimp
Avocado, halved and sliced
Baby yellow tomatoes, quartered

Combine all ingredients except shrimp, avocado and yellow tomatoes in a large non-reactive bowl**, stir well. Puree a bit to thicken with a handheld blender (stick blender) or put a portion into a regular blender and puree slightly, then mix back into the larger portion.

Cover and chill.

Serve with shimp, avocado slices and quartered baby yellow tomatoes with crusty bread on the side with additional hot sauce and balsamic vinegar, to add to taste.

* If available, I like to substitute 1-2 lemon cucumbers for one of the green cucumbers.
** If you like to add more "good stuff" like tomatoes, mult kinds of cucumbers & peppers, make that a very large bowl.