Chilled Avocado Soup with Plum Pico de Gallo

Creamy, cool avocado soup. Tangy-sweet, crisp, fresh pico de gallo. It's the dog days of Summer in Virginia, sweaty and tawdry and hanging on a little past their welcome. A cold soup that also rich and nourishing is all I want. Make it raw and savory and bursting with flavor. Make it spicy, lace it with cumin, drizzle olive oil over top. Call it dinner and turn on the A/C. Fuck cooking. When it's so hot I barely want to move to turn on the blender, I just stare at my range and oven with disdain. Open all the windows. Hope for a breeze. Today is Wednesday. I think it's as good a day as any to take a moment for gratitude. Gratitude for this blog, for my supportive friends and family who every day tell me to keep going. And gratitude for you, the reader. You listen and respond to my compulsive sharing -- recipes and life-updates both. I want to say thank you, friends. You make this space what it is, and you make me into a better, more connected person. You make this blog more than a blog. You make it a community full of love.

So today I'm sharing this really fun avocado recipe! It's creamy, savory, avocado goodness topped with fresh spicy-sweet plum pico. It's a tight-rope walk of textures and flavors. And I love that. Miso gives the avocado soup foundational umami flavor, garbanzo beans give it structure and heft, lime juice brightens everything up. The pico pops and takes the soup into the stellar range. The perfectly ripe plums play between sweet and tart, giving the spicy pico a much needed juiciness. I added watercress to mix it up a bit. It's piquant, adding another dimension of heat. And you can whip it up in under 10 minutes! Who doesn't love that? Dinner = done.

And, going back to gratitude, I need your help! I need your insights to make this blog AWESOME and full of content that you'll LOVE moving forward. I would be so thankful if you would fill out This Survey I've created (it takes less than 10 minutes). Everyone who submits will be automatically entered into a contest to win a fab gift from Food52 (up to $25 value), which I'm funding on my own dime! Because I really like you guys a lot. Let's be friends.

Fill out The Survey and Enter the Contest!  Survey and Giveaway closes on Sunday August 9th 2015.

Chilled Avocado Soup

Recipe Type: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Author: Renee Shuman (Will Frolic for Food)

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 4-6 servings

A raw, creamy, chilled avocado soup full of good fats and lots of flavor! Chickpeas add a dose of protein and the spices give the soup a bit of a South West flair. If you prefer the soup mild vs. spicy, omit the jalapeño.

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe avocados
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 4 inches cucumber, chopped roughly
• 1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped roughly
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin, bruised in a morter
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, roughly crushed in a mortar
• 4 tablespoons lime juice (from approximately 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons mellow white miso paste
• 1 inch jalapeno pepper, chopped roughly (only include the seeds if you want it really spicy!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + more to garnish
• 1.5-2 cups water (depending on how thick you like it)
• 1 teaspoon grey Celtic sea salt + more to taste
• 6-8 ice cubes
• plum pico de gallo

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a high powered blender (you may want to do this in two batches): avocados (scooped from their peel and pit removed; discard black/brown spots), chickpeas, cucumber, garlic, red onion, cumin, black pepper, lime juice, miso, jalapeño, olive oil, water, sea salt, and ice cubes.
2. Blend on high until everything comes together in a smooth, creamy emulsion.
3. You may want to add more water / salt to your preference of thickness.
4. Serve topped generously with plum pico de gallo and a drizzle of olive oil. Voila!

3.3.3077

Plum Pico de Gallo

Recipe Type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Author: Renee Shuman (Will Frolic for Food)

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 4 servings

This fusion pico uses the best of Summer plums for a tangy-sweet, spicy salsa that's perfect plain as an appetizer with best quality tortilla chips or as a topper for Mexican inspired soups or salads! Keep this pico seasonal by using any ripe stone fruit available: nectarine, mango, cherry, peach, pluots, and apricots are all excellent!

Ingredients

• 4-5 small red or purple plums (or 2-3 large plums), pit removed and diced
• 1/3 cup small red onion, minced (about 1/4 red onion)
• 1/2 cup red pepper, minced (about 1/2 a pepper)
• 1/2 cup fresh, raw sweet corn, cut from the cob
• 1 inch jalapeno, minced (only include the seeds if you want it to be VERY spicy!)
• 1/4 cup fresh watercress (or cilantro), chopped roughly
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, bruised in a mortar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, crushed roughly in a mortar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt + more to taste
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the diced plums, minced red onion, minced red pepper, cut corn, minced jalapeño, chopped watercress, cumin, black pepper, salt and lime juice.
2. Toss everything together and add more salt as you like.
3. Spoon the pico into a serving dish and dig in!

3.3.3077

here it is!