Cold Cucumber Avocado Soup with Watercress

Cold Cucumber Avocado Soup with Watercress

Another cold cucumber soup by Anna Thomas from her cookbook, Love Soup, spiced up my hot, humid day in Duluth.  Tom had planted watercress in a pot on the deck and this recipe was a good one to use it.  Watercress has an almost peppery, zippy taste and it Pzazzed up this soup just right.  Watercress also has great nutritional benefit as it is another member of the brassicacea family, so it contains many phytonutrients helpful for cancer inhibition.     

Watercress

Ingredients:
2 lbs soft-skinned cucumbers
6 oz. watercress
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 small jalepeno pepper
1 large Haas avocado
1 - 2 teaspoons sea salt

Preparation:
Trim the ends off the cucumbers; taste each end, and trim off any bitter part.  Cut the cucumbers into cubes.  Wash the watercress, remove any heavy stems, and chop it roughly.  Combine half the cucumbers and most of the lemon juice in the container of a blender and puree.  The cucumbers will soon be a liquid, and you can then easily add the remaining cucumbers, the watercress, garlic and jalepeno.  Puree until everything is smooth.  Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, peel the avocado and the cut the flesh into cubes; you should have not quite 1 cup of diced avocado.  Add the avocado to the cucumber puree, along with a teaspoon of sea salt and process again.  The mixture will become thicker and creamier.  Stir everything in a bowl and taste.  Add more lemon juice and more salt, a bit at a time and stirring thoroughly each time, until the balance tastes right to you.  Chill the soup well.  Garnish as desired.

Note:   Anna Thomas suggests that this soup could be made with cilantro rather than watercress.  I think that would give it a very different, but still delightful taste.  I think I'll try that next time!


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 5
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 106
Total Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol:  0 mg
Sodium: 486 mg
Total Carbs: 13 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 3 g