Hello, dear ones. πŸ™‚ It’s been a dark and rainy day, but as I sat in my armchair suddenly the room brightened and I rushed outside to see this sky.

Hooray for even a few rays of sunshine!

How was your weekend? Were you able to rest, do something fun, accomplish a project you’d planned?

Mine didn’t quite go according to plan, but was splendid nonetheless. I missed the Scottish festival but I got to have a looooong, wonderful talk with my brother stationed in Afghanistan. That was well worth missing a festival. πŸ™‚

I got to have a Girl’s Day Out with my Mums and we had such fun shopping, visiting, going out for lunch, and perusing our favorite market. I found all sorts of lovelies: fresh cherries, purple-tinged asparagus and this gorgeous rainbow chard. Aren’t those colors amazing?!

I also found this deep, purple kale and am looking for just the right recipes for all this scrumptious veg.

I’ve been itching to travel again, but that won’t be happening for a while. So I popped over to the library and borrowed a stack of fabulous travelogue books by such authors as theΒ intrepid British travel writer Norman Lewis. Through their pages I will travel to Naples in 1944, Seville in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, and Ujae in the Marshall Islands. I can’t wait!!

In the meantime I’m celebrating summer with one of my favorite meals: Gazpacho Salad. Inspired by my favorite “Once Upon A Tart” cookbook, it is a wondrously fresh combination of tomatoes, English cucumber, red or yellow bell peppers, sweet corn and dill. Mmm. I made it for my lunches this week, but couldn’t stop myself from digging in early. Delicious. πŸ™‚

If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?

This is my contribution to Chaya’s Meatless Mondays.

Gazpacho Salad

Ingredients for salad:

1 English cucumber, quartered and sliced

1/2 medium sweet onion, diced fine

1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced fine

2-3 ears corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob

8-10 Campari tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

  1. As you cut veggies, toss into big bowl large enough to hold everything.
  2. In small bowl combine ingredients for vinaigrette and whisk until emulsified.
  3. Pour vinaigrette over vegetables and toss gently. Salad is best served right away since vegetables will get soggy.