Chunky Gazpacho with Sauteed Shrimp

Sorry to have been so absent for so very long.  It's embarrassing.

I made this a few weeks ago during a huge heat wave.  I had no interest in heating up the kitchen, so gazpacho seemed a natural choice.  I haven't been traditionally a fan of gazpacho, so I hoped the addition of shrimp to the recipe would change the flavor dramatically but still keep my kitchen cool.

While I didn't make the recipe exactly as written, since I used all red tomatoes, I still wasn't super enthused about this gazpacho.  I guess something's wrong with me; who wouldn't love the fresh flavors of summer produce?   I was right that the addition of shrimp would make a big difference; the spoonfuls with shrimp as well as soup were quite delicious.  Maybe you'll try cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces so there is shrimp throughout?

But perhaps someone out there hasn't perused the Cooking Light website lately and happens to LOVE gazpacho, or will play with the ingredients a little different so that it's not so heavy on the cucumber flavor.

Chunky Gazpacho with Sauteed Shrimp Cooking Light August 2010

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chilled low-sodium vegetable juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds red tomatoes, cored, chopped, and divided
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 cup chopped English cucumber, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 12 ounces yellow tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1/2 cup fat-free Greek-style plain yogurt

Preparation

• 1. Place vegetable juice, salt, ground red pepper, half of red tomatoes, and garlic in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed tomato mixture into a large bowl. Place the remaining red tomatoes, 2/3 cup cucumber, 1/2 cup bell pepper, 1 tablespoon basil, and lemon juice in blender; process until smooth. Add to pureed tomato mixture in bowl. Stir in remaining 1/3 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup bell pepper, and yellow tomatoes. Cover and chill.
• 2. Heat a large grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp to pan; grill 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from heat.
• 3. Ladle about 1 3/4 cups soup into each of 4 bowls; top each serving with 4 ounces shrimp, 2 tablespoons yogurt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons basil.