Sunday, May 2, 2010

Avocado Gazpacho w/ Spiced Croutons

Source: Food Network- Torie Ritchie

This is perfect for a hot day and is both vegan and raw.

Ingredients

Gazpacho

  • 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced (I only used One)
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • 1/2 to 1 cup vegetable broth (I used 1 bouillon cube w/ 1 cup water)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, plus additional, for garnish
  • 1.5 jalapenos, chopped
  • 4 green onions, sliced (including green tops)
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 4 garlic cloves (I love garlic, you can put less)
  • 1 Tomatillo
  • Salt
Note: Only the Gazpacho is raw and vegan. The Croutons are not.
Spiced Croutons
  • 3 big slices of sourdough bread (or any bread you have)
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 Teaspoon Red Chili
  • Black Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F. Cut bread into medium cubes and spread on a baking sheet. Toast in oven until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Melt butter and stir in ground chili powder, salt, cumin, and pepper to taste. Toss and coat bread cubes. Return to oven and toast 5 minutes more.

In a blender, puree cucumbers, lime juice, 1/2 cup broth, 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, jalapenos, green onions, garlic, tomatillo, and 1 of the avocados, diced. Season, to taste, with salt. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours or until next day.
To serve, thin gazpacho with additional broth if desired. Dice remaining avocado finely and add to gazpacho base. Pour into bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves and croutons.
Kuty's Twist:
Croutons come out great with sourdough bread!

I only added 1 cucumber since I've heard it doesn't keep too long. My other additions included garlic and a tomatillo. Tomatillos add a nice tangy flavor to this.

If you are desperate to eat this right away, which I was, pour a small amount into 1-2 bowls and stick it in the freezer for 10 mins!

8 comments:

  1. Looks amazing, great combination of ingredients. Have to try it some day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i see this post is tagged as "raw" and "vegan"

    just wanted to politely point out that butter is made from a mother cow's milk, which isn't vegan, and heating anything above 110 degrees is not considered raw ('preheat oven to 450').

    your page layout looks great though

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks abc. I assumed rawists and vegans would know that the croutons were not. I've added a note to my recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  4. YUMMY! I am going to try this next week :) and yes! just removing the croutons makes for a vegan dish. very versatile!:)

    PS - great idea to do a food blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. 4 Comments on your 1st blog.
    You are a hit!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmm.. sounds very refreshing.. especially for a nice summer afternoon :)..

    I wouldn't even mind some shaved parmesan on top :).. Lovely.. !!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love making my own croutons, not sure why, something about it being so easy and satisfying. Nice recipe for the avocados, I am always in search of finding recipes that has my favorite fruit, or is it a vegetable?

    ReplyDelete
  8. CF- Completely agree about the croutons! As for avocados, wiki says: "The avocado is botanically a fruit, but culinary or in the kitchen it is often treated as a vegetable"

    ReplyDelete

Followers