Cucumber and Avocado Gazpacho

Have you missed me? LOL.  Sorry to be so MIA this summer.  I wish I could say I've been reading books, sleeping in a hammock and sipping iced tea.  Gosh that sounds good but no complaints :)  Like today, I've been spending half of my time working on our fixer-upper, and spending the rest of the time with our family and having our grandsons over for sleepovers and day camp dates. There's also my weekly golf dates with my hubby.  There's so much to enjoy during our brief summers!

I have also been planning and testing recipes our seasonal gourmet event which will be next weekend!  One of the 'keepers' to our menu is this delicious Cucumber and Avocado Gazpacho soup which I made from my very own garden cucumbers and basil.  I've even titled our dinner party "Garden to Table Gourmet".

This creamy gazpacho is so full of flavor, not only from the freshest ingredients but also the delightful hint of corn flavor the from homemade corn stock.  It's summer in a bowl! 

Speaking of summer harvests, not only am I picking cucumbers, but my tomatoes and zukes and finally rewarding me with some gorgeous produce. 

And all that planting in the spring, watering and weeding in the summer is also giving me some wonderful bouquets to enjoy!  

And these handsome, young weeds keep growing too :)  We just love having them here at Nana and Papa's house to love and spoil ♥  We even had our oldest 'baby' home for almost the entire weekend last week while her boyfriend was in Canada fishing with his father.  Our youngest 'baby', the mother of those handsome young boys, joined us one of those evenings. Our hearts are full!  

I'll have more recipes from our upcoming dinner party to share soon.  

Cucumber and Avocado Gazpacho

Printable Recipe

2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and cut up 

1 large or several small cucumbers , unpeeled, seeded and cut up (12 ounces net weight)

1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves 

1 clove garlic, peeled 

2 green onions, trimmed and cut up 

Zest and juice of 1 lime 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 

2 cups Corn Stock – recipe below 

Garnish: finely chopped cucumber and sautéed corn kernels 

To make corn stock, slice kernels from 2 or 3 fresh ears corn (reserve some corn kernels for garnish and use or freeze the rest). In a large saucepan, bring the cobs and 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, then discard cobs. Strain and chill, covered, 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. 

For the gazpacho, puree all ingredients (except garnish and corn stock) in a blender or in a large bowl with an immersion blender. Add corn stock to desired consistency. Adjust seasonings as necessary 

Transfer to a bowl and cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent browning. Chill for 2 to 24 hours; stir before serving. 

When serving, garnish with chopped cucumber, corn kernels or basil sprigs.

Adapted from Midwest Living