I have been making so many smoothies and sorbets recently which made me think about this. How would you differentiate between a green smoothie and a chilled soup?
Is there something that separates and defines the green smoothie from the green soup? This is made all the more tricky by the fact that more and more people are now serving their smoothies in bowls, just like a soup and garnished with all manner of goodies.
So when I decided to create a chilled soup, something I haven’t made in quite a while, I did wonder about what to name it. Soup won out in the end. A delicate, mildly creamy chilled avocado watercress and cucumber soup.
Including avocado adds a beautiful smooth, almost buttery richness. I have added yoghurt and chilled coconut (drinking) milk as my liquids of choice. To turn this into a vegan soup you could replace the yoghurt element with more coconut milk.
For all of my blended soups, I now only use my Froothie Optimum 9400 blender. I have totally neglected my hand held blender since receiving my Froothie. It has been invaluable to me over the last year and will continue to be one of my most reliable kitchen gadgets.
I will be posting more power blender recipes over the summer months, including salad dressings, sorbets, ice creams and sauces so watch this space for more Froothie recipe inspiration.
Before I share with you my chilled avocado watercress and cucumber soup I thought I would include a few of my other Froothie soup creations so you can see how useful a gadget this super power blender really is.
Soups:
Jerusalem artichoke, chestnut & mushroom soup
There are also many other Froothie soup recipes out there, why not check out their SITE.
And here are a few more ideas from fellow Froothie loving food blogger friends:
Beetroot cumin & coconut soup – The Botanical Baker
Quick green freezer soup – Tinned Tomatoes
Garlic mushroom soup – The Crafty Larder
Quick courgette & blue cheese soup – Kavey Eats
Carrot & ginger soup – A glug of oil
Tomato soup with Cheddar dumplings – Smarter Fitter
Harissa baked butternut squash soup – Hedgecombers
I am linking my soup to: Simple and in Season (Ren Behan), Meat Free Mondays (Tinned Tomatoes), Extra Veg (Utterly Scrummy & Fuss free flavours), No Croutons Required (Lisa’s kitchen & Tinned Tomatoes).
Disclosure: I received my Froothie Optimum 9400 blender for review purposes and I am a big fan, which is why I choose to write about it. Affiliate links are included and any income I receive is used to support the upkeep of my site.
Chilled Avocado Watercress & Cucumber Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber peeled, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 avocado flesh removed
- 2 small shallots peeled & chopped
- 1/2 bunch of fresh dill chopped
- 5 large sprigs of mint leaves only
- 1/2 bag watercress
- 1/2 lemon juice only
- 200 ml natural yoghurt
- 150 ml coconut milk from a carton, not tinned
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Sumac and drill fronds for garnish
Instructions
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Place all of the ingredients in the power blender and blitz until you have a smooth consistency
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Transfer the soup to a bowl or container to chill for at least 2 hours before serving
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Garnish with dill fronds and Sumac
I really love the idea of gazpacho, I made a few last year when I was cheffing in a cafe. A tomato gazpacho, and one similar to this. Love the creaminess of the avocado! pinned!!
Agree Ceri the avocado adds so much creaminess, it’s so good in soups
Mmmm, I don’t care what you call it, it looks delish! Do you know, I’ve don’t think I’ve ever used avocado in a soup before, being dairy free I love the idea that it would give a creamy note. Must try it soon, thank you 🙂
Janie x
Great Janie, and yes avocado adds so much creaminess without the need for dairy.
That looks and sounds wonderful Laura. I think I might need it warm today though as it’s rather cool up here in Scotland just now. Thanks for linking to me. Stumbled, tweeted and pinned 🙂
Hope the sun comes back out for you Jac and thanks for sharing this :))
The nomenclature is a tricky one, isn’t it? Especially the smoothie bowl thing. Anyhow, this looks so good for any warm weather that may happen out way. I do a Colombian Cream of Avocado Soup with all of the flavours that that country implies – not too dissimilar to your fine and beautifully presented recipe. Pinning etc 🙂
Great Kellie, will check out your soup. You have so many great soup recipes, not to mention everything else you do!
I’ve never really made cold soups, I need to try them this summer!
You should Kavey!
This is so perfect for the hot weather that is (hopefully) returning!
Yes, where has the sun gone!
Just stunning Laura… ideal for a summer party on a hot and sticky day!
It is so refreshing Katie!
Intriguing! I’ve never been sold on the idea of chilled soup (I’d call it a smoothie!) but then again, it’s just so cold where I live I’d prefer a hot soup! If I lived in a warm climate I think I’d grow to appreciate the awesomeness that is chilled soup. Sounds like a gorgeous recipe!
I know Elizabeth, the lines are blurred!
That sounds like an ideal summer soup. Thanks so much for sharing with NCR. The roundup is coming soon.
This is such a glorious soup Laura, Thanks for sharing with #ExtraVeg and apologies for being so slow to come and comment.