278750 Wed Jul 13 13:11:23 -0700 2005 7 31 Home Cooking 0 1476285 So I finally jumped on the avocado soup bandwagon last night and made MMRuth's recipe along w/ a shrimp salad for dinner. Thought I'd post to say thanks to MMRuth and include a photo for those interested in seeing this green beauty. This is indeed a great cool soup! Of course, it helps if you're an avocado nut like me and can get buttery, unbruised ones from the farmer's market. I've been buying two a week lately so I see all kinds of permutations of this soup in my future. Note: My husband begged me not to make this since he only likes avocados in guacamole (and maybe has bad memories of my avocado ice cream attempt), but he even agreed it was good and ate his bowl clean. I basically followed the recipe, but also added some ground coriander and a pinch of sugar (mine needed it to balance the acidity from limes and heat from cayenne). I garnished w/ quartered cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, and the Jackson Pollock like drops that you see are a chimichurri-style sauce (parsley, EVOO, garlic, lemon juice) I had on hand. I would have drizzled w/ a little fruity EVOO otherwise. The garnishes are really important to offset the richness of the soup. Went well w/ the shrimp salad I threw together based on what I had in the fridge. Basically consists of red leaf lettuce, grilled shrimp, champagne mango, red bell pepper, and radishes. I made a dressing w/ the chimichurri sauce mixed w/ EVOO, lime juice, S&P. For those w/ lots of herbs to use up, I highly recommend making these simple herb sauces and keeping in fridge to use in all kinds of ways. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/278444#1473870 Image: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/btdoan/IMG_2168.jpg Wed Jul 13 13:11:23 -0700 2005 0 Carb Lover 1 1476286 Beautiful! And your point about the garnishes is a good one - maybe I'd get less tired of it if I added a little relief to the richness. I also add the ground coriander sometimes, usually as a complement to the cilantro, but sometimes as a substitute. Wed Jul 13 13:14:22 -0700 2005 1476285 0 MMRuth 1 1476288 Looks fabulous! (Makes me wish I still lived at the house where our avocado tree produced 250 avocados per season!) Wed Jul 13 13:19:37 -0700 2005 1476285 0 Funwithfood 1 1476318 Thanks for the post and picture. I'm going to try this soup tonite. I've been a bit afraid to try it since I made a cold beet soup a while back with chicken broth that was just awful. Also, thanks for the tip on herb sauces-I've a garden full of herbs and this will be a nice way to use them as well as enhance many summer dishes. Love the pics with the posts! Wed Jul 13 14:54:05 -0700 2005 1476285 0 jackie 2 1476333 I understand your trepidation about these less conventional soups. IMO, the vegetal quality in both beets and avocados makes them a challenging variable in some dishes, and their distinct flavors are just not of the crowd-pleasing type. And then the fact that the soup is cold is another psychological or physiological adjustment to make. As I said, the garnishes were very important to balance everything, and next time, I'll add even more tomatoes. I think MMRuth's addition of crab meat would also be wonderful in rounding this out. The herb sauce thing is fun b/c it's a very versatile condiment. When I know I can't use a fresh herb quickly enough, I'll just blend a bunch w/ lemon juice, some EVOO, sometimes chicken/veggie stock, sometimes garlic. I use it to enhance mayo, dressings, marinades, veggies, soups, etc. I keep mine in a squeeze bottle in the fridge and try to use up over a couple of weeks. Wed Jul 13 15:37:37 -0700 2005 1476318 0 Carb Lover 3 1476338 I made a double batch. The first night I served it with salsa and some tortilla chips and is was sort of like guacamole soup and delicious. The second time around with a big scoop of blue crab also delicious. It is so versatile, I just love it. Wed Jul 13 15:52:39 -0700 2005 1476333 0 Candy 4 1476356 Oh, the salsa w/ chips sounds good. I like the idea of crunch from the chips. Plus my husband will feel like he's eating his beloved guacamole. The other thing about the meal last night that dawned on me afterwards was that it was LOW CARB. Wed Jul 13 16:30:34 -0700 2005 1476338 0 Carb Lover 5 1476381 That is one of the reasons we love it, besides being delicious. I have also found a decent corn tortilla from Tamixico's that weighs in at 4.5 g/tortilla. When you are as carb sensitive/intolerant as we are you are always looking for things like that. Time was we did not have to worry about them but time is not nice and one has to adjust with it. Wed Jul 13 17:23:08 -0700 2005 1476356 0 Candy