Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho

Hi everyone Stephanie here. How crazy has this summer been? Here in NYC they have said its been one of the hotter  summers they have seen in a while. My grandparents are from Puerto Rico and last time I talked to them, they had a drought and they shut down the water in their town. I believe two days without water. They have a storm going their way so hopefully it does bring rain and no damage what so ever.

We have pretty much been lucky. We are still getting rain and cool mornings until we get hit with the afternoon sun. The weather here has been doing very wonderful things towards people that like to grow their own vegetables. We know someone that got an abundant amount of cucumbers and tomatoes. Now when I say abundant, we have so many cucumbers that we ran out of ways to make them.

So yesterday we decided to have a seafood day and with that the idea of the gazpacho was born (that and the humidity). Salmon, crab legs and shrimp. The shrimp we kept them simple. Salt, lemon pepper and olive oil. After when they were almost cooked through, I added a small amount of butter. Sometimes the simpler the better.

Enough ranting, on to the recipe.

Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho 

(I wanted to call it Cucumado but I figure that might be weird)

* TT= To Taste

Ingredients:

  

•  3 Tbsp of Olive oil
• 1 lb cucumber, peeled and seeded.
• 1/2 onion, small diced
• 3 garlic gloves, minced
• 2 avocados, split in half and pit removed
• 1 C plain yogurt or Greek
• 3 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh dill
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• TT Salt & pepper

Garnish:

• 1 lb of shrimp, shelled out and cleaned.
• TT Salt & pepper
• Olive oil to coat shrimp

Instructions:

1.  In a saute pan over medium heat, add 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Once its hot add the onions and cook  for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, cooking for 1 minute. Lower the heat and slowly cook for another 5 minutes. Turn heat off and let cool a bit.
2.  In a blender, add the cucumbers, avocado, lemon juice, onion and garlic with oil, apple cider and fresh dill. Blend for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the yogurt and blend again for about another minute.
3.  Place in a air tight bowl, add as much salt and pepper as desired, cover and let it sit in the fridge for 3 hrs or over night. Serve cold and enjoy. 
4. Cook the shrimp about 3 minutes on each side. 
5. Spoon cold soup into a bowl and garnish with cooked shrimp.

There are endless possibilities of garnishes since the soup has more of a creamy consistency. Maybe make some Pico de gallo or some roasted corn salad to pair with it. Anything acidic or smokey will help.

We hope you enjoy.