Avocado Soup/"Guacamole Suave"
Summer is a great time for avocados, because there are so many refreshing dishes you can make with them ... last week I made a couple of avocado recipes.
The first was a sandwich. The original recipe was for a pita sandwich, but I prefer a nice thick slice of artisan bread. I can't help it! I am Western European! So I made the avocado filling part of the sandwich and then slathered it on a rustic country roll and slapped some shredded carrots and alfalfa sprouts on there to make me feel super healthy and veggie. Alfalfa sprouts always make me feel like I am eating something healthy! The sandwich turned out really good. The avocado mix was not too spicy, just enough for flavor. It held up well too ... I made an extra sandwich, wrapped it in wax paper and ate it for lunch the next day and it was still just as delicious as the day before.
The avocado soup turned out a little strange. See, I forgot that the recipe called for one avocado that was especially for dicing and using as a garnish. I used all of the avocados in the soup. Also, I could not find buttermilk, so I made ghetto buttermilk by putting lemon juice in warm milk and letting it sit until curdled. This may have made the overall recipe more citrussy, and contributed to the overall effect. But basically, instead of a soup, what I got was a more smooth and creamy guacamole. I took one bite and immediately found it necessary to get tortilla chips. A little cilantro and it would have been golden. I call it "guacamole suave." There's no reason to ever, ever make this. Guacamole is perfect the way it is. It reminded me of the way a 1950s housewife would make guacamole for a "fiesta" style dinner party. It wasn't bad at all, it was a perfectly adequate dip. It was not a good soup.
The sandwich recipe is adapted from a recipe in the Eat Well column of Martha Stewart's Body + Soul magazine. The soup recipe is also from the same column, not adapted. Well, at least, I didn't mean to adapt it.
SPICED AVOCADO SANDWICH
1. Halve and pit 1 avocado. Scoop out the flesh, cut into chunks and put in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, 1/2 to 1 tsp. green pepper Tabasco, and 1/4 tsp. coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine.
2. Spread 1/2 mixture onto 1 thick slice of whole wheat bread and add alfalfa sprouts (as much as you want) and 1/4 cup shredded carrots. Put the another slice of whole wheat bread on top. Repeat to make another sandwich. Voila!
CHILLED AVOCADO SOUP
* 3 ripe avocados
* 2 cups lowfat buttermilk
* 1/3 cup walnut halves
* 1/3 cup fresh dill sprigs + more for garnish
* 1/3 cup diced red onion (1/2 small onion)
* 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
* 1 tsp. coarse salt
1. Halve and pit TWO of the avocados. With a spoon, scoop out flesh and transfer to a blender. Add buttermilk, walnuts, dill, red onion, vinegar, salt and 1 cup of water and puree until smooth.
2. Cover blender and refrigerate until soup is well-chilled, at least one hour. Halve and pit remaining avocado. Cut into four sections lengthwise, and then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch chunks. Divide soup among four bowls and garnish with diced avocado and dill.
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Comments
that's awesome.
Someone should come up with an all-substitute cookbook
Now I just have to make it up, and sometimes that doesn't turn out so well.