Cold Avocado Soup

We receive a quarterly newsletter from our HOA, which keeps us apprised of all the grand plans the HOA has in store for our little subdivision.  I usually throw this away because honestly, I never see these improvements happening, and reading about it makes me feel like I'm being lied to.  And stolen from.  I digress.

My dear husband reads every piece of mail that enters our mail box.  And while he was reading the HOA quarterly newsletter, he came across a recipe for Cold Avocado Soup.  After some debate over whether cold avocado soup is really just runny guacamole, I decided to make it and find out.

And then in what I can only conclude was subconscious passive aggression on my part, I lost the newsletter and the cold avocado soup recipe it contained.  So I had to scour the Internet.  And I was surprised to learn that cold avocado soup is, apparently, only a new thing to me.  Lots of restaurants make it, as do a lot of the celebrity chefs.  I combined attributes that I liked (and left off ones I didn't, like heavy cream) from several different recipes, to create this soup:


Ingredients:
3 large, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
1.5 cups chicken stock
3 green onions, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh lime juice
4 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 T. kosher salt
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground cayenne
1 c. fat free half-n-half
4 T. olive oil

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a deep saucepan on medium. Add jalapeno and green onions and sautee, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.  Add minced garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Season with cumin and cayenne, stirring until fragrant.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a food processor or blender, add the sauteed onion/jalapeno mixture, fat free half-n-half, 2 T. cilantro, chicken stock and 1 T. of the lime juice.  Puree until an even consistency is achieved.  Return to saucepan, along with salt, and heat on low, for approximately 10 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, place avocados in a bowl and mash with a fork until smoothe.

Remove soup mixture from heat.  Gently whisk in the avocados until well blended.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, combine remaining 2 T. olive oil, remaining 2 T. fresh cilantro, and remaining 1 T. of lime juice.  Puree until a smoothe paste forms.  Pour paste into a bottle with a nozzle or pour spout (I use a bottle intended for hot dog condiments).  Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to serve, give the avocado soup a few stirs before ladling into bowls.  Drizzle top with cilantro paste and serve immediately. Garnish with corn chips.


I served this with chilled red sangria, using frozen green grapes as ice cubes.  It was surprisingly good, especially now, when the temperatures are 100+ degrees, rendering chili undesirable.  And to answer the original question -- Cold Avocado Soup does NOT taste like runny guacamole.

I guess my HOA is good for something, after all (not really).