Summer Gazpacho

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... I was here all last week:

Anyhoooo, back to reality.

One of my FAVORITE FAVORITE things to make during the summer is gazpacho. It's refreshing, easy, healthy AND delicious- perfect!

My grandma has a wonderful recipe that I start with and then doctor up depending on how I feel and what I have on hand. Here's the basics:

2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery, diced
2-4 bell peppers, diced (I love them so I go with 4)

Toss all the diced veggies in a BIG bowl...

Next, gather all the liquid ingredients and spices...

2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I use one can of regular and one can of the spicy kind!)
Enough tomato juice to cover the veggies (about 3/4 a bottle of tomato juice, to your taste)
1 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbs Worcestershire
1 tsp oregano
A dash of hot sauce (Red Rooster is my pick)
S&P

Pour everything in the bowl and mix together...

Chill for a while in the fridge, this is the kind of thing that gets better and better the longer it chills. I will last the whole week and is perfect to pack in a lunch or dole out for a quick dinner. I love the chunky consistency in this gazpacho, but if you're feeling fancy give it a hit with the blender to smooth it out. Top with a dollop of sour cream, avocado and a dash of fresh cracked pepper. Now stay cool!

Tomatoes Galore!

Earlier this spring, we planted tomato plants in our garden. In the past couple weeks, they have gone crazy!  This morning post-gardening, I picked a bunch of them and noticed that I also noticed that my basil was nice and plentiful. My gardening skills have always been lacking so I got really excited and decided to make something really great to go with our breakfast.

I diced the tomatoes up, added a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh basil and some salt and pepper.

YUM! Going with the whole tomato-basil concoction, I scrambled some eggs with some fresh mozzarella until the cheese was nice and gooey...

Top the eggs with the tomatoes and serve with your breakfast sides of choice... we love asparagus and sourdough toast. 

I could eat caprese any meal of the day. It's so light and summery and I'll use any excuse to work that tomato-basil-mozzarella combo in with anything. Plus with this plethora of tomatoes and basil in my garden, I'll have 2 out of 3 always handy, for a while at least!