This post was sponsored by Bubbie’s. All opinions are my own. Thank you so much for supporting brands who support vegukate!

This is the first time in my adult life that I’ve had functioning flower and vegetable gardens – which, for me, is a huge feat! Yes, I’ve had basil pots from Trader Joe’s in apartment windows (all of which have failed to thrive) and a really sad sungold cherry tomato on my tiny balcony last year (which produced about 12 baby tomatoes), but never have I had space and a garden to grow things. Cue: green thumb excitement!

Which is why this year, I’m in heaven with my tiny little raised garden beds that are actually, ya know, growing edible vegetables for my husband and I to gobble up.

We’ve been harvesting cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, basil and other fresh herbs, a few cucumber varieties, lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, and beyond. Even though I am no master gardener, it’s still incredibly satisfying to grow something from seed, tend and nourish it, stress out about it when bugs appear to be make holes in it, and finally eat it in your own kitchen and recipes.

Plus, some research notes that you benefit from peak nutrients when you consume local, harvested fruits and vegetables – as opposed to produce that has traveled long distances. This study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found that some vegetables lose between 15-77 percent of their vitamin C content within a week of harvest. A 2005 study from Penn State University found that spinach can lose 90 percent of its vitamin C content within 24 hours of harvest. This is in no way meant to scare you out of eating spinach and vitamin C-rich foods, simply to choose as local produce as much as possible, when available to you! Other wonderful options include fermented produce and frozen fruit and vegetables, which have been frozen (or fermented) at peak harvest and therefore are still bursting with vitamins and minerals.

Back to growing your own! We’re swimming in tomatoes in our garden, so my answer to tomato surplus is late summer gazpacho loaded with ripe and zesty flavors. These include fresh, juicy heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, pungent basil – and the best gazpacho topping of all time – Bubbie’s dill pickles.

It may be a pregnancy cliché, but I’ve been obsessed with fermented Bubbie’s pickles (and sauerkraut!) for the last couple of months; and before I was pregnant, to be honest. Bubbie’s pickles are so tangy, crisp, and flavorful that they make each and every spoonful of gazpacho out of this world. It’s the perfect combination of sweet, salty, sharp, sour, and delicious – you’ll be obsessed too.

I’m very picky when it comes to my pickles, and Bubbie’s ticks all my boxes. Unlike several pickle varieties (the ones that you find in the shelf-stable section of the grocery store, not refrigerated section), Bubbie’s pickles are lacto-fermented, meaning that bacteria cultures naturally present on cucumbers (also known as lactobacillus) are responsible for transforming cucumbers into tangy, fermented pickles bursting with healthy gut bacteria and probiotics. This is how fruits and vegetables have been fermented and preserved for centuries, way before we started using vinegar to pickle.

The result is a perfectly fermented pickle loaded with flavor and naturally occurring good-for-you bacteria. What could be better?

Juicy heirloom tomatoes + cooling cucumber + fresh herbs + flavor-loaded Bubbie’s Dill Pickles = a late summer gazpacho to stay cool the last few hot days of summer.

Late Summer Gazpacho

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

3 pounds ripe heirloom tomatoes, seeds and cores removed
½ English hothouse cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 red bell pepper, seeded
¼ cup shallot, finely chopped
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle as a garnish
½ tsp. sea salt
½ cup Bubbie’s Baby Kosher Dill Pickles, sliced, to garnish
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved, to garnish
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, to garnish

Directions:

1) Add summer gazpacho ingredients to a high-speed blender: heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, shallot, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. Blend on highest speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds.
2) Pour gazpacho through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or jar. Discard seeds and pulp from fine-mesh sieve.
3) Cover gazpacho and let chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
4) Serve gazpacho garnished with cherry tomatoes, sliced Bubbie’s pickles, and fresh basil leaves. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

Notes:

-Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit’s Summer Gazpacho recipe
-No heirloom tomatoes? No worries. Swap with 3 pounds of your other favorite tomato variety.
-Find Bubbie’s pickles in the refrigerated section! Find them in your local grocery store here.