Cold avocado soup

It's been awhile since I blogged. Life has been hectic and I lost my cooking mojo for awhile. There was a lot of stuff from Fresh & Easy that was heat and eat, or cook and eat. Very little thought behind what I was cooking. I hate when I get like that! Anyway, I was in a soup mood today and I found a recipe for quinoa and corn soup. I got corn in my bountiful basket, so I need to use it, but I have to soak the quinoa in stock or water overnight so it'll sprout (whether or not it'll ACTUALLY sprout in stock will remain to be seen. I vote no.) I was looking around and remembered reading about cold avocado soup in Debbie Macomber's book Hannah's List. It sounded interesting, so I googled it and one of the first results that came up was an Emeril recipe.

Now, if there's one person I love from the Food Network, it's Emeril, and technically he's no longer on FN. His recipes always turn out for me, which is more than I can say for some (Paula Deen, you disappoint me.) I read the recipe and I was practically drooling at the end, so I rushed out and got the things necessary for it (and toilet paper which was the real catalyst for the shopping trip. I figured while I was at the store, I'd pick up stuff to make something fun.) Here is the recipe:

3 large, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup minced scallions
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro, plus 6 sprigs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions

In batches in a food processor, puree the avocados, chicken stock, scallions, lemon juice, cilantro, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the cayenne. Pour into a soup tureen or large pitcher and stir in the heavy cream just before serving. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn kernels, cumin, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until fragrant and golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and garnish each serving of soup with 2 tablespoons of the toasted corn and 1 sprig of cilantro.


I followed the recipe pretty closely, but because I was going to be serving it to my kids, I decided to use 1/4 tsp of cayenne. I served it with chips and salsa. The flavor was great, it was like the best guacamole ever, but I had to add to it to change it up. We added a few spoonfuls of salsa, some steamed white rice, it all helped. The winning combo for my kids was a few spoonfuls of salsa and various amounts of rice (more rice for my youngest, less rice for my oldest.) Here's a picture of it before I added the salsa and rice:


Definitely give this recipe a try. If you do a variation on it, let me know, I'm very interested to hear of all the ways you can make this soup. I think next time I'll put a clove or 2 of garlic in it (2 max, raw garlic is very strong tasting!)