If I had an avocado tree, this would be entirely Yard Soup. I know it's possible to have a productive avo tree in Northern California, but it takes years and... well, maybe as soon as the pear tree dies (it's sick, and there will be a hole in the landscaping).Everything else, with a few exceptions that I'm growing myself but haven't become ripe yet so I got substitutes at the market, is from the Terra Linda Terroir. Oh, and I don't grow buttermilk, so...
So what you have here — what I had — is a casual raw green soup.
I'm not pursuing a raw food diet, but I don't see a single thing wrong with eating raw food if it works. This worked.
Recipe: Go into the yard. Pick anything that's ripe and would taste good raw, mixed with the other things you pick.
This is but one suggestion. I hope to vary it wildly next time, and I hope you are inspired to be inspired, too.
I went for a "green gazpacho," even sneaking one red-orange paste tomato into the blender. The rest was sorrel leaves, cilantro leaves, a green cayenne pepper (that got knocked off the bush during a vigorous lawn grooming) — seeds removed. A couple of scallions. A handful of purslane leaves (the weed, not the domesticated plant). Also, an avocado, two peeled cucumbers (the little Persian kind; mine aren't ready yet), and a generous glug of buttermilk. Salt, no pepper needed. A splash of water, because pureed avocado can really thicken up, and you don't want to eat a bowl of guacamole. Don't be afraid to thin the soup; it'll be more pleasant to eat.
Blend, hard. No chunks allowed, and the leaves must almost disappear. When it's smooth and pretty, pop it into the fridge for an hour or more. It should be cold. It's really good cold.
It's really good.
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13 comments:
I had to enlarge this photo to make sure you were not garnishing the soup with a wee mouse.
Your combo sounds delicious -- and I look forward to the next adventure with your own gazpacho.
(And I loved spotting Bartlett in the background....canine Waldo.)
Kudzu: Yesss! My little rodent in the backyard, my Dalgo. Glad you spotted her.
If/When the pear tree dies keep the wood, let it season then find a little man to make you a pear-wood bowl or some beautiful wooden handles for knives *sigh* pear wood is so beautiful.
Zsa Zsa, such a glamour queen when I was a girl.
Mouse: OOOHH! Pear wood. Thanks, I would have dumbly not thought of it. I have a recorder (tootle stick, I call it) made from beautiful, pale pear wood. Tight grain.
Man, I have a lot of instruments I don't play. Harmonica, recorder, five ukuleles, fiddle, mandolin, drum set. Cranky has a guitar and a banjo he doesn't play. Wouldn't this be the best band?
Zoomie: She was such a period piece! Exotic, icy, mad. I couldn't stand her.
No one could stand her, including her numerous husbands, but she was amazing for her time, I think. Shrewd, used her sex to best advantage for #1. Dad used to quote the guy who said, "I feel like ZsaZsa Gabor's seventh husband on his wedding night - I know what to do but I don't know how to make it interesting."
Zoomie: What a fantastic quote! I'll try to incorporate it into my bag of stolen bon mots.
I have 2 flutes I don't play & Mr Brown a guitar he takes out of the case to look at from time to time. The cats like to sit in the case :) We'll join your (silent) band !
Mouse: We'll call ourselves the Brown Stripes.
This looks fantastic. A perfect "inspiration" recipe, but let's face it...I see all recipes as inspiration. I'm not much of a follow-step-by-step gal. I would love to have a fruit-bearing avocado tree. Also, I think we are on the same page with raw. I like raw if it works, but not raw for the sake of raw.
Denise: I would certainly hope you'd manhandle the "recipe" to your own liking. (A big squeeze of OJ is crazy good in there...)
I took a raw "cook" book back to the library the other day. It was perfectly fine, but just so dumb. So obvious. At least there wasn't any Rejuvelac in it.
OJ is a great idea. And Rejuvelac...I had to look that one up ; )
But you LOOKED! Hah. :)
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