Depending on where you live, summer may have already arrived, or maybe it’s not quite there yet. With temperatures in the 90s last weekend in Chicago, I think I can mark the Memorial Day holiday as the official start of summer. I’d also like to say that I hope temperatures drop a little. There’s no AC in our little old apartment.
I feel like eating healthy in the summer is much easier. The heat has me craving cool, refreshing and fresh light meals and the produce section in the grocery is suddenly much brighter and tastier.
My mom has been making gazpacho for years and for me, it means summer! So naturally, I had to make my own version of it to share with you! Gazpacho is one of those foods that’s easy to make and only gets better as it sits in the fridge. Once it’s done you can eat it all week long! Perfect work lunch in my opinion.
Hope you had a fabulous holiday weekend to kick off summer!
GAZPACHO WITH SHRIMP
Notes
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 hothouse cucumber, seeded & peeled finely chopped
- 1 lb. tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded
- 5 scallions, rough chop
- 2 bell peppers, seeded & diced large
- 1 clove garlic, minced fine
- 3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups V8 juice, low sodium
- 1/4 cup citrus champagne vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 avocado, cubed
- 18 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- S&P
- cayenne
- Roughly chop all the vegetables through bell peppers.
- In batches, place the vegetables in the food processor and pulse until you reach the desired consistency. Think finely chopped salsa. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides so that all ingredients are equally sized. See pictures for details.
- Pour into a large bowl and continue until all vegetables are chopped.
- Stir in cilantro, parsley, V8, champagne vinegar and salt.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
- Meanwhile, season shrimp with salt, pepper and a sprinkle of cayenne. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Spray with Pam and cook shrimp 2 minutes per side. Let cool completely and refrigerate until chilled.
- Dice shrimp to use as a garnish.
- Serve in chilled bowls with cubed avocado and shrimp on top.
