Bowl of Cold Cucumber Avocado Soup
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Cucumber Avocado Cold Soup


California
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4-1/3 cups
**
40 min
Best		 A light and refreshing cold soup for hot days. It's easy to make and can be made well ahead and refrigerated until needed.




1
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11
1/4
2
1
1
2
1/2
3
1/2
3/4
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1/4
#
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oz
c
T

lrg
T
c
T
t
c
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c
Avocados (1)
-- Purée
Cucumbers (2)
Cilantro
Mint Leaves
Jalapeño
Scallion
Lime Juice
Yogurt (3)
Vinegar (4)
Salt
Water
-- Finish
Olive Oil ExtV 		Do Ahead
  1. At least 4 days before making this soup, buy your AVOCADOS. They should be pretty hard. Set them on a counter to ripen. When they have a little give when pressed with a finger, get them into the fridge, where they will hold that state of ripeness for days.
MAKE   -   (40 min + chilling time) - You can mix all Purée items as you prepare them.
  1. Chop CUCUMBERS into about 1/2 inch chunks.
  2. Chop CELANTRO coarse. Pick leaves from MINT and chop coarse. Mix. Measure is after chopping and loosely packed.
  3. Cap Jalapeño, split lengthwise and remove the seed mass. Leave the veins in unless you want this soup very mild. Chop small.
  4. Cut SCALLION into about 1 inch pieces.
  5. Squeeze LIME JUICE.
  6. Mix all Purée Items. Run the Mix in a Blender, Mixie, or Processor until smooth.  Leave it in the machine.
  7. Scoop out AVOCADO flesh and mash with a fork. Add to the Purée and pulse a few times to distribute it well. Do not over process or the texture will be thickened.
  8. Start the processor and immediately stream in the Olive Oil, then immediately turn off the processor Taste to see if you want any more Salt, Vinegar or Lime Juice.
  9. Chill in the fridge for a few hours to a day or so in a sealed container.
  10. Serve chilled in bowls, garnished as desired - see Garnishes.
NOTES:

  1. Avocados:

      Preferred are Hass or Bacon. Buy them a few days ahead and let ripen until you can just dent them with a finger. Refrigerate until needed. They will keep in the fridge for several days.

  2. Cucumbers:

      Persians or some other small diameter cukes that need not be peeled or seeded. If all you can get is the standard green blimps, they must be peeled and seeded before weighing.

  3. Yogurt:

      This should plain, natural, full milk.

  4. Vinegar:

      The pattern recipe calls for "Champagne Vinegar", which is actually Chardonnay Vinegar. Other fresh White Wine Vinegars can be used.

  5. Garnish:

      Various garnishes have been suggested for soups of this type: Yogurt, thin slices of Cucumber, chopped Chives, Mint Leaves, Dill Sprigs, chopped Red Onion. sprinkle of Olive Oil. For buffet Service you could cut up some Cucumber into about 1/4 inch chunks and mix them in along with some coarsely chopped Dill.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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