Sweet Corn Gazpacho w/ Grilled Shrimp

New Jersey summers really are the best.
Don't believe all the negative press we get. It's a beautiful state.

The New Jersey shore is gorgeous, with so much to offer, something for everyone.....we have great pizza, and the best produce.
We do have high taxes and bad attitudes (some people do, anyway....truth).

We grow delicious tomatoes, corn and peaches, but you know all of this already.

I get excited when everything is in season and available all at once so I can make a dish like this. It uses all the tastes of summer, and when you use local produce, it's the best.

This is a terrific recipe for gazpacho, usually made with red tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and onions.
But this one is a yellow gazpacho, made w/ New Jersey's best summer produce, and it has CORN in it!

I added grilled shrimp to make this a heartier meal instead of a light lunch, and another bonus, it freezes beautifully!

The second time I served it, I defrosted it from the freezer, and threw in some crisp bacon and topped with seared scallops.

Add in cilantro or basil to finish, and maybe some fresh chives from the garden.

I could eat this everyday!
I just thought of it, why not an avocado with it?

Sweet Corn Gazpacho w/ Grilled Shrimp: (recipe adapted from Love and Lemons)

3 ears corn, kernels and juices, reserve 1/4 cup kernels for garnish
1 cup of yellow cherry tomatoes (SunGold variety)
1 yellow pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil and chives for garnish (cilantro is also so good)

Grilled Shrimp:

as many shrimp as you like, deveined and peeled
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
juice of a lime and the zest
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

Make the soup:

The original recipe calls for a blender, but for some weird reason, only the bottom stuff was getting blended.....I never liked my blender anyway.

So, I transfered it all to a food processor, but it was a bit too much, and when I whizzed it, it started leaking thru all over the counter. What a fiasco.

So, I transferred it to a bowl and pureed it a batch at a time in the food processor until smooth.

Ok, disaster averted.

Taste and see how you like it. My corn was so sweet it was sticky, so all that milky stuff with the good vinegar was heavenly.

For the shrimp:

Marinate the shrimp for about an hour in the marinade, then grill for 3 minutes on each side on a hot grill.

I served the gazpacho at room temp with the hot grilled shrimp on top.

Garnish with basil and chives just before serving.

We loved this one!