Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Green Gazpacho


This cold soup is a green version of gazpacho, with avocado in place of tomatoes. In Spain, they use bread as a thickener for the traditional gazpacho, but that’s not needed with this recipe because the avocado does that for you.

My husband (not a fan of cold soups) kindly refers to this as runny guacamole. That’s sort of what it is, but I think it tastes better than that moniker makes it sound. If you want, you can reduce or leave out the avocado and go for a more traditional style soup, adding a bit of olive oil, and bread or even blanched almonds to round it out. Green pepper would be a nice addition too.

You'll probably want to de-seed the cucumbers for this. I think it depends on the type of cucumber you’re using. The cucumbers from my garden this year have tender, mild-tasting seeds, and they blended in just fine… but if you use cucumbers with tough or strong-tasting seeds, you’ll probably want to take them out.

As usual with my recipes, this is a general guideline. This is what I used, but you may want to change the amounts or the ingredients to your tastes.

Serves 4-6

2 medium-large cucumbers, peeled and de-seeded
2 large avocados
1 medium-size, sweet onion (roughly 1 cup chopped)
2 cloves garlic
½ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup veggie broth (cold or at room temperature)
Splash of Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot, or similar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in blender. Serve chilled, topped with minced peppers, cucumbers, or other veggie of your choice. I like to drizzle oil and vinegar over the top of mine.

I also think it would be cute served in pretty bistro glasses.

12 comments:

  1. Rose,

    This definitely sounds right up my alley. I make a red gazpacho where I add avocado instead of olive oil .... so I know we will like your version. Maybe a little fresh spinach to up the nutrition would also taste good. I try to add raw spinach whenever I can. I will try that when I get more cucumbers.

    Thanks for the idea,
    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, spinach would be a great addition. Your version sounds delish!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rose,

    In case you missed the recipe I wanted to send you the link so that you can make it your own.

    http://veganepicurean.blogspot.com/2009/05/gazpacho-with-avocado.html

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, I was planning on doing a search on your blog for it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This may seem off the wall, but I ate the leftovers of this with sauerkrout and it was delicious. If you like sauerkraut, give it a try!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rose,

    The sauerkraut sounds interesting, tell me more. Did you put the cold sauerkraut in the soup, or eat it hot on the side?

    I just got in from grocery shopping and had to ask about the kraut, because I love that stuff.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  7. I ate it cold on top. I know I'm weird---but I love sauerkraut too.

    Do you do homemade? Or what kind do you buy? I never get organized enough to do homemade, but I love Eden Organic brand.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rose,

    For some reason I haven't tried homemade sauerkraut yet. I have thought about it but the fermenting seems a little crazy to me. Maybe I need to take the plunge and make some this fall. What the heck, the worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work and I have to throw it away.

    I buy the Eden organic brand too.

    I guess we are both weird the sauerkraut didn't sound that odd to me. I thought the idea of the acid and crunch from the sauerkraut made sense on the cold thick smooth soup. Although, I don't know what made you think of it. I don't think it would have ever occurred to me.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  9. I know what you mean...the rich creaminess of the avocado goes well with the sauerkraut in the same way that the melted cheese and sauerkraut on a reuben go really well together.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rose,

    I hadn't thought of it exactly that way but it makes sense. Now I want to make a Rueben tonight but I don't want to go back to the store for Rye bread.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  11. That reminds me...I made your beer brats and they were really good. I made reuben-style sandwiches with them. I took a picture and was going to post it, but it was pretty messy looking, so I decided not to. I'll definitely make those beer brats again.

    Ok, I'll stop blogging now, I promise,

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rose,

    That really made me laugh.

    Glad you liked the beer brats. Did John like them too? My husband thinks they are ready for me to make for omnivores. What do you think about that? If you get a chance please post a comment on the beer brats to encourage other people to try them too.

    thanks,
    Alicia

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...