Summer Soups / Recipe of the Week: Chilled Avocado & Black Garlic Soup!

Let’s face it, there aren’t too many Midwesterners standing in line outside the local ice cream shoppe in the frigid month of January. But when Summer hits Wisconsin, many of us can be seen enjoying chilly dishes & cool treats like banana splits or iced coffee. Soup, unlike an ice-cold glass of lemonade, can easily be served either hot or cold, and in any season!

That’s right: soup in Summer. 

Perhaps, like me, you don’t immediately think of soup as a Summer meal. I was raised with hot bowls of soup, stews and chili throughout the Winter months, but it wasn’t often served at my home on an 85-degree day on the sunny front porch. When I think of Summer I think of watermelon, cold sandwiches, fresh oregano in my water, and home-grown berries topping my homemade yogurt. But soup really isn’t just for the Fall and Winter months, as many home chefs already know.

Online cookbooks, blogs and recipe sharing sites have dedicated entire articles to Summer Soups we could be enjoying even in the heat. One such article from Taste of Home Online, 55 Easy Breezy Summer Soup Recipes by Kristin Sutter, is a great example! Just read the names of these Summer soup recipes:

• Asparagus Soup with Lemon Crème Fraiche

• Grilled Watermelon Gazpacho

• Tomato Orange Soup

• Golden Summer Peach Gazpacho

Is your mouth watering yet? I hope so! Because we have a Summer soup recipe to share that will be sure to please all the lovely black garlic fans out there: Chilled Avocado & Black Garlic Soup by Caroline Barty! The recipe was in the April 2015 issue of House & Garden and includes an optional recipe for tortilla chips that would go well with the soup. 

Avocados and Black Garlic have been seen together on our Recipes Pages previously, in our Avocado Toast Recipe, and also in our Sensational Black Garlic Guacamole Recipe. So, while you are picking up the ingredients for your Summer soup (or digging the ingredients out of your garden), grab a few extra avocados and whip up another black garlic + avocado combo from the Recipes on the Black Garlic North America site!

Check out the recipe for Chilled Avocado & Black Garlic Soup below, and also visit the original recipe page for beautiful soup images! For Black Garlic to use in this recipe, you know where to go: Black Garlic North America’s Online Shop!

All for now, friends!

Chilled Avocado & Black Garlic Soup with Tortilla Chips

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHILLED AVOCADO & BLACK GARLIC SOUP

• 7 ripe avocados

• 5 cloves black garlic, peeled

• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, plus extra for garnish

• Juice of 2 limes

• 1 litre cold vegetable stock (you can use gluten-free Kallo stock cubes)

• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander

• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin

• ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TORTILLAS 

• 200g masa harina

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2-3 tablespoons chilli oil

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, plus a pinch for garnish (optional)

• Maldon sea salt

• Handful fresh coriander leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the soup, halve 6 of the avocados, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a food processor. Add the black garlic, coriander and lime juice, and process for a few seconds. Pour in the cooled stock and remaining soup ingredients. Process until smooth. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Pour into a large bowl, cover and chill for 2-3 hours.

2. For the tortillas, place the masa harina in a mixing bowl with ¼ teaspoon salt and the olive oil. Add about 240ml water. Mix together to form a smooth but not sticky dough, adding more water if necessary. Cover and leave for 15 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 8 even-size pieces. Roll out each one between 2 sheets of cling film to a rough circle about 10.5cm wide and about 2mm thick. Cut out a 10cm round. Collect any leftover dough and stamp out 2 or 3 more tortillas. Heat a frying pan until hot and cook each tortilla for about 30 seconds each side. Cut each tortilla into 4 wedges.

4. Heat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/mark 6. Arrange the tortilla wedges on 2 baking trays and drizzle over the chilli oil. Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon smoked paprika and a little Maldon sea salt, and bake for 15-18 minutes until the tortilla chips are starting to turn golden brown. Leave to cool.

5. Just before serving, cut the remaining avocado in half, remove the stone and cut the flesh into small cubes. Spoon the chilled soup into bowls. Scatter over the diced avocado, along with a few fresh coriander leaves and a sprinkling of paprika, if you wish. Serve the tortilla chips on the side.

To drink, from House & Garden: Zingy Sauvignon Blanc and Gros Manseng are both good with avocado and spicy tortilla chips: Janeil Gros Manseng Sauvignon Blanc 2013.

Shop Black Garlic North America brand Black Garlic for this black garlic recipe: