Lullaby's and Gazpacho

Today was a very productive pregnant weekday! My coworker friend Deanna was so nice and treated me to a subscription of Fit Pregnancy.  We work out together at work and talk about healthy food all the time, so of course it was fitting to keep me on the healthy pregnancy track.  Thanks D!  In the August/September issue, they provide many healthy summer dishes and when you look at the photos, you need to make at least one of the recipes!

Doesn't this look tasty?

It's a summer gazpacho with shrimp.  I never made gazpacho so I decided to make that part of my to do list today.  I headed out to Trader Joe's in the AM to get some of the ingredients.  I love that store.  Everyone's so nice and you just feel healthier every time you're in there.  However, it can also be dangerous.  Their chips are so yummy.  I couldn't help myself and bought Nelson and I a bag of baked Hawaiian BBQ  chips.  Thanks God the bag was a smaller sized one.  They were delicious!  They didn't even taste like baked chips. Yum yum.  If you feel like a small treat, go ahead and get a bag.  Just share it! :) 

This pic is not mine, I only bought 1 bag.  I'm lucky that I didn't get 2!

So I got home and did some of the prep work of the gazpacho.  I didn't do it all at one time because I decided to do other things (organize the basement, did the elliptical, and added some music to my ipod)

The only cd for me is the Prenatal Peace and Calming music.  The others are for Baby C.  Baby Vivaldi and Baby Bach are from my mother-in-law and the others are from my friend Anna (AGAIN)! :) Baby Castro can't wait to waltz around in my tummy to these tunes.

Later in the afternoon I completed the gazpacho.  There were many steps, which I didn't mind since I had the time, but I would never make it on a normal weeknight.  Here's the finished product:

Not as fancy as the magazine, but it sure was delicious.  To quote Nelson, "Hmm, it's so refreshing."  We have left overs for tomorrow's dinner.  For a side, I had a salad and grilled corn.  Baby C is full of nutrients tonight!

Here's the recipe if you ever want to try it out.  Just a note - there's a lot of olive oil in this dish, which is healthy but if I would make it next time, I might just cut out the olive oil while cooking the shrimp and at the end (the drizzling):

Serves 4

For the gazpacho

• 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 cup water
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 to 11/2 slices of bread, torn into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the shrimp

• 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• pinch of kosher salt

For the garnish

• 4 (1/2-inch thick) slices of bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• kosher salt, as needed
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon diced shallot
• 1 tablespoon minced chives, to garnish
• sea salt, to garnish

Place the gazpacho ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth, adding more water if necessary. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and chill.

Make the shrimp: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the shrimp lengthwise about halfway down so they open into a Y shape (this allows the shrimp to cook more evenly.) Once the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Put the bread cubes in a mixing bowl, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and toss to coat evenly. Spread the cubes in a single layer on a  baking sheet and bake until golden, turning once or twice with a spatula, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine the plum tomatoes, cucumber, red and green bell peppers, and shallot and mix well.

To serve, place three sautéed shrimp in the center of four soup bowls. Arrange some of the tomato-cucumber mixture around the edge. Sprinkle with chives and sea salt and top with some croutons. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil. Pour the  chilled gazpacho into a pitcher. Set the bowls in front of your guests and pour some of the gazpacho at the table.

Per serving: 384 Calories, 28.55g Fat, 22.68g Carbs, 9.53g Protein, 5.16g Fiber, 68mg Calcium, 2.32mg Iron, 426mg Sodium, 90μg Folate