Gazpacho. Vegan and gluten free.

I think of gazpacho as just an enormous bowl of my favorite salsa sans the chips.  Am I alone?  I love fresh salsa.  Despite not having fresh tomatoes from my garden YET, I did have some lovely cherry tomatoes I used to make this recipe.  I added fresh ingredients and herbs. I’ll admit that I can down one very large bowl of this easily.  Packed with tons of vitamins and nutrients… plus absolutely no guilt – this makes the perfect healthy, light lunch or dinner.  I do make this a bit chunkier but you certainly can puree it longer for a more blended texture.  Think of the easiest Meatless Monday dish ever!  All of my recipes are merely a guideline… do what you love and adapt as necessary.

Ingredients:

2-2.5 lbs of cherry tomatoes, washed
1 English cucumber, washed and quartered
1 large bell pepper, sliced and inner seeds removed- any color
1/2 of a small red onion, outer skin removed
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 jalapeno, washed/halved (remove the seeds if you don’t want it spicy)
2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar)
4 tablespoons of a good quality balsamic vinegar
1 handful of cilantro leaves (about a loose cup)
1 lime juiced
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Place the garlic, jalapeño and onions into your food processor and pulse several times.  Once nicely chopped add the remaining ingredients and pulse several times until the desired texture is achieved.  Place in a container with a lid and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours or until chilled.  Serve chilled in bowls or fun glasses.

After…

I had the opportunity to speak to a friend who is a vegan ultra marathoner this Saturday at a swim meet.  He was giving me advice on building up my “engine” this summer.  He asked about my long runs and I explained all about my erratic heart rate.  He was appalled at how high my rate goes while running.  He gave me advice to practice during my long runs to train my heart… okay, I’m all ears.  I have to run my long runs all in zone 2 for my heart rate (128-144 bpm)… oh sure. I think that’s me walking but I promised to try and no matter how slow I needed to go.  This is my goal for my long runs only.  He gave me so much awesome advice that I was smiling ear to ear.  I love this stuff and need to build up in a smart manner to keep my ticker running correctly.  More information to follow.

Sunday:  Hiking with my husband and two dogs on a very muddy/hilly trail.
Monday: 6.52 miles on the treadmill – progressive run (8:01/7:46/7:38/7:33/7:32/3:50-.52 miles) then strength training.

— Knead to Cook