It’s August and it’s been a hot one this summer! Keep your kitchen cool by experimenting with chilled soups this summer. Zero cooking needed. 🙂 If you have a blender or food processor, you can easily make this green gazpacho soup. Plus if you make it ahead, it only gets better after a few days in the fridge.Â
You just need to chop the vegetables in big chunks like this. You can remove the seeds from the cucumber, but it’s not necessary.
Summer picnic with a friend and chilled green gazpacho. Mmm…joys of summertime.Â
Pea, Cilantro, Lime Gazpacho
Yields: 6 cups
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ large cucumbers
- 1 avocado
- 6 ounces fresh or frozen peas
- 4 sprigs cilantro
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ medium shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lime
- ¼ jalapeño
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- â…” cup vegetable broth (low sodium)
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt to taste (Start with ½ teaspoon)
Optional
- More cilantro to garnish
- 1 tomato for garnish
Directions:
Add the following ingredients to the blender as you peel and slice them. However, keep aside about â…“ of the cucumber to cut into a medium dice. You will add this diced cucumber before serving the soup. It will not be blended with the rest of the ingredients.
Peel cucumber. Slice down the middle lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Save for another recipe, or place in compost bin. Slice avocado in half and scoop out flesh with a spoon.
Rough chop the cilantro, stems included. Peel and rough chop the shallot and garlic. Juice the lime into the blender. Slice jalapeño in half and carefully scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Make sure to wash hands well with soap after handling hot peppers and don’t touch eyes or sensitive skin. Add oil, whipping cream, broth and spices to the blender.
Turn blender to medium. If it’s starting to blend, turn to high until everything is well blended. If it doesn’t want to blend, add a few tablespoons of broth at a time until it begins to blend.
Taste and adjust ingredients to your liking. After finished blending, add diced cucumber pieces and pour into serving bowls. You can serve with a swirl of olive oil or cream, more cracked pepper and a garnish of cilantro and/or diced tomato if desired.
Enjoy!
Variations
You can use fresh parsley and a few sprigs of mint in place of the cilantro. In that case, the lime can also be substituted by lemon. Have fun experimenting! Comment below if you’d like to share your variations or how you liked the recipe.
