Cold Gazpacho with Avocado

Ingredients:

• 20 oz tomato juice
• 1 medium peeled cucumber
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• ½ cup olive oil
•  ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• Hot sauce
• Cilantro
• Avocado

Preparation:

• Blend  tomato juice, cucumber, red pepper, green pepper to a pulp
• Season vegetable mixture with salt and pepper
• Combine with olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic
• Add hot sauce and/or fresh chopped cilantro  to taste
• Chill overnight
• Serve cold, garnish with diced avocado

Tip: Add 1 cup of diced stale bread when pureeing vegetables for a thicker consistency

Serves 4-6

Red Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa and Chickpeas

• Preheat oven to 350
• Make Quinoa according to directions (substitute chicken broth for water for more flavor)
• Core 6 Red Peppers (can use any color)
• Mix quinoa, chickpeas, ¼ tomato sauce, salt and pepper
• Stuff peppers with quinoa mixture
• Place peppers open side up in baking dish, pouring remaining tomato sauce over peppers
• Bake until tender, basting every 10-15 minutes

Tip:  For a dairy variation of this dish, add feta cheese to the quinoa/chickpea mixture, or sprinkle you favorite shredded cheese on top of the baking peppers for the last 10 minutes.

Corn on the Cob

• You can cook corn on the cob in the microwave... just wrap it in plastic wrap, put on a microwave safe dish, and cook for 3 minutes
• Serve hot and watch your fingers as you unwrap it-it gets steamy!

Watermelon

• I love to serve watermelon in the summertime in its own shell. Cut the whole watermelon in half. Just use a spoon or melon scooper to dig out the melon and then place it back in the hollowed out shell. It's a nice touch

Vanilla Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches

• All you need to make these gourmet ice cream sandwiches is a vanilla bean ice cream and ginger snap cookies. Put the ice cream in between two cookies, wrap in tin foil,, freeze a few hours-pull them out of the freezer and serve immediately.