Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho

Last night's dinner was a very yummy variant of gazpacho, based on a recipe I found on a natural beauty blog that said it was the ultimate skin booster! I don't know that my skin looks any nicer today, but I'm pretty much up for making anything that calls for avocados. (especially because we have four sitting here that we really need to use up). One exciting thing about this recipe was that it called for leeks, which despite their simplicity are an ingredient I've never used before. I still have a few left in the fridge, and I'm planning on thumbing through my copy of Alice Waters' "Chez Panisse Vegetables" to see what she suggests for them.

My first experience with gazpacho was at a Lebanese restaurant my parents used to take me to as a child. I really disliked it back then, and only really went along without a fight because they served fresh-made lemonade with noodles for straws. It's grown on me over the years, and now I think it's a perfect meal at the end of a scorching summer day.

I liked this version of gazpacho better than the one I made earlier in the summer, which was more of classic, tomato based version. The avocado gave a slightly rich creaminess to the base. I think next time I make it I'll try using a red bell pepper instead of green, if only because the boy doesn't like green ones very much. I also might chop up a bit of extra avocado to throw in at the end, but I'm obsessed like that.


Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho
Serves 4

1 english cucumber
1 zucchini, peeled
1 green or red pepper
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 medium sized avocado
2 cloves of garlic, raw
1 leek
1/2 red onion
1/2 teaspoon cumin
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
large handful of cilantro (if you like it)

1. Roughly chop the leek and red onion. In a saucepan, heat the chopped leek and onion in extra virgin olive oil until translucent and soft, but not brown.

2. Meanwhile, in your food processor or blender, crush up the tomatoes, garlic, avocado, cumin and cilantro. Add the sauteed onions and leek, and pulsate until smooth. This will be your base. Don’t add water unless you absolutely have to—the juice from the tomatoes should be enough. (our blender sucks, so I ended up adding about 1/2 of a cup of water. It seemed to turn out fine to me!)

3. Pour the base into a bowl and set aside, then finely chop the cucumber, zucchini and bell pepper. Add the chopped veggies to the base. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and some salt and pepper.