This February we were very lucky to visit Andalusia which is, coincidentally, considered to be the birthplace of gazpacho.
I love this dish and got unreasonably excited about trying it specifically in that region of Spain. Additionally, it is virtually the only dish in Andalusian tapas bars that consists of fresh vegetables and is not smothered with some kind of pork.
Needless to say, I was disappointed to learn that February is an off season for gazpacho and none of the restaurants in Andalusia serve it. So I had to settle on salmorejo – a more hearty, wintery option of gazpacho – as Spaniards explained to me – only with a lot less vegetables and a lot more bread, pork and hard boiled eggs…
I think I’ll leave the salmorejo recipe for colder days but enjoy my gazpacho recipe for now!
Gazpacho: 1. I use avocado for a healthier version of gazpacho - traditional one uses white bread instead (btw - another great way to use leftovers of stale bread). The whole point of using either of these ingredients is to achieve thicker consistency and round up otherwise highly acidic flavors. 
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
2. Gazpacho is a very simple dish so it’s important to keep in mind that it will taste as good (or as bad) as the ingredients you choose for it. You can probably cheat and use not the most flavorful cucumber, but olive oil and vinegar have to be really good (they gotta pass an “eating with a spoon test” from my IGTV video of this recipe:)
3. There are endless possibilities for toppings - fresh herbs such as basil, mint, parsley etc., as well as leftovers of vegetables used for the recipe cut into tiny pieces. In the south of Spain they serve gazpacho’s sibling salmorejo with jamon and chopped hard boiled egg - so that’s also an option. Oh, and definitely make sure to sprinkle each individual portion with some extra EVOO.
