A beautiful day in The Valley!

I took a beautiful drive, top down, up to my friend Chris's house in Napa this afternoon.  I never get tired of that drive through the farmlands and vineyards.  Wind  in my hair, sunshine on my skin....doesn't get much better than that!

Chris's place is a little oasis, set in the middle of 12 acres of vineyard that make you crave a sweet glass of wine and a good book the moment you arrive!  In addition there are gorgeous flowers in every color of the rainbow and fruit and walnut trees begging to be picked (if you can get to it before the birds do!).  And then the topper (for someone like me!)... raised bed after raised bed of plump, juicy, ready to pick veggies.  I was lucky enough to come home home with a bag full of fresh, ripe goodies:

First to be picked were the tomatoes and cucumbers, so I had a gazpacho idea forming immediately.  Hot day; good idea.  Then the big, fat, sweet pepper...oh yeah, this is gonna be good!

Couldn't be easier.  I had no real plan when I started making the gazpacho; it was a taste as you go and figure it out kind of experience.  Taste buds ended up happy!!

I busted out the food processor to make this easy.  Individually I processed the tomatoes and cucumbers until finely chopped, like this:

Then I processed the pepper, a leek, shallot, a couple scallions, and garlic and added it to the mix.  I didn't have an onion, so I made do with all the things in the same family, but if you're going to the store anyway, use one medium onion.  Now for seasoning.  Here's where tasting as you go happens.  I added some vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.  A little olive oil and veg broth loosens it up to a nice chunky soup quality.  One more taste and a teaspoon of maple syrup balances it all out.  Seriously, give it a try!  So quick and easy.  But know that the longer it sits, the better it gets, so control yourself; leave some leftovers.

Garden Gazpacho
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cucumber, roughly chopped
1 large banana pepper, roughly chopped
1 leek, white and light green part only, roughly chopped
2 scallions, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (or too your taste)
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Place chopped tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped.  Transfer to a large bowl.
• Place the chopped cucumber in the food processor and blend until finely chopped.  Add to tomatoes in bowl.
• Place the chopped pepper, leeks, scallions and garlic in the food processor and blend until finely chopped.  Transfer to the bowl with tomatoes and cucumber.
• Stir in the vinegar (you can use red or white wine vinegar), Worcestershire, maple syrup, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.
• Add olive oil and vegetable broth, stirring to combine.  Place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes and serve.

Yum it up...and look, no cheese!!