Green Gazpacho
Cold soup is a big hit in my family. It's light, refreshing, healthy and easy to whip up a big batch for the week. Easy lunches or a really low-cal snack doesn't get much better than a simple garden gazpacho.
You probably saw my mother's traditional red gazpacho post from last week. This one takes the same concept of "vegetable and herbs" only without other thickeners like nuts or bread. This version has no tomatoes, and uses the cucumbers as the main content value of the dish. Because the ingredients in this one are a bit more "earthy" more honey and vinegar take it from a mushy salad to a nicely created soup.
You want to make sure when making a green gazpacho that you aren't making a vegetable smoothie, but instead a correctly seasoned soup. The vinegar and olive oil really help in elevating it beyond a veggie smoothie to a gourmet appetizer for your summer bbq. Try serving it in little plastic cocktail glasses with a cherry tomato salad on top, I also use roasted walnuts, radishes, chives or more avocado as garnish.
A couple of ingredient notes: I used poblanos, they are usually pretty available, but if you can't find them, substitute a green bell pepper and a half of an un-seeded jalapeño. Spring garlic is hard to replace flavor-wise, however 1-2 cloves of garlic, and even better roasted garlic will be a good substitution.
Garden Green Gazpacho
makes 3-4 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1/2 an avocado
- 4 cucumbers
- 4 radishes peeled
- 3-4 spring onions
- 2 shallots
- bunch of cilantro
- 2 tbs white wine vinegar
- 2 tbs honey
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- juice of 2 lemons
INSTRUCTIONS
Start by cleaning the veggies. Then prep the poblano like pictured above and place in the broiler for 10 minutes. You want the skin to char and start to bubble, as well as let the meat of the pepper cook. Once done, remove and immediately place in a ziplock bag to steam. The steaming will allow you to peel the skin off.
Place all ingredients in the blender and pulse until your consistency is pretty smooth.
Serve with roasted walnuts, tomatoes, avocado, radishes and more fresh herbs. A piece of grilled baguette that has been brushed with garlic and olive oil would take this dish to the next level! Esp. for a bbq when the grill is already on and ready to go.