Eatwell Farm

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Chilled Avocado, Tomatillo, and Cucumber Soup with Saffron Lime Ice

From the Artful Vegan by Eric Tucker

I have loads of avos from the market this week, so I am looking forward to making this one!  

Saffron Lime Ice:

Juice of 2 limes

1/4 tsp Saffron threads; soaked in 1/4 cup warm water for 20 minutes

1 tsp unrefined Sugar

1 tsp Hungarian or Spanish Paprika, toasted

1/2 cup Water

1/3 tsp Salt

Soup:

1/2 Yellow Onion, cut into 1/2" dice

4 cloves Garlic, peeled

1 Jalapeño Chile

3 ripe Avocado, peeled and pitted

8 Tomatillos, peeled

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

1 tsp dried Oregano

1 Cucumber, halved lengthwise and seeded 

1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp light Miso

3 cups Water

Salt

Cayenne Pepper (optional)

1/3 cupslivered Almonds Toasted and very coarsely crushed for garnish

To make the ice, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, and pour into a 2" deep pan.  Freeze for 3 to 4 hours, until frozen solid.

To make the soup, heat a large nonstick sauté pan over high heat.  Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeño.  Dry-toast, stirring frequently, for 7 to 10 minutes, until half of the onions, garlic, and jalapeño are charred.  Remove from the pan and let cool to room temperature.  Peel and seed the jalapeño.  Place the avocado in a mixing bowl with the cooled onion, garlic, and jalapeño.  Add the tomatillos, cucumber, cilantro, oregano, nutmeg, black pepper, lime juice, miso, and water.  In a blender, or using a handheld immersion blender, blend the ingredients in batches until smooth.  Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste.  Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until well chilled.  To serve, ladle the soup into 6 martini glasses.  Sprinkle toasted almonds over the top of each.  Scrape the saffron ice crystals off the pan with a fork, and place 2 tsp on each serving of soup.  Serve immediately.