Cold soup might sound like an oxymoron, but have you ever wanted the taste and texture of soup but then remembered it is over 80 degrees outside. Well, this is where cold soup, or what some like to call gazpacho, comes in to curb your soup cravings.
What better way to celebrate soup than with a vegetable that is perfectly in season right now… peas. Ew, some of you may not particularly enjoy peas, but have you ever had them pureed in a soup? It is kind of like throwing spinach in a smoothie–the other foods totally mask the taste. We like the peas for the texture. Oh, and I should mention that there is an avocado and cashews in this too! Yum-o!
Cold Pea Avocado Cashew Mint Soup
ingredients
1 cup raw unsalted cashews
1 TBS olive oil
2 shallot cloves, finely diced
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 TBS chopped fresh mint
3 cups shelled fresh peas
2 cups of water
1 cup vegetable stock
1 avocado
The juice of ¼ of a lemon, plus more for serving
instructions
- First, you want to spout the cashews which will soften them up. To do this you’ll need to plan a bit the day before and place raw cashews in a jar with a tightly fitted lid topped with enough water to cover. Refrigerate overnight. Strain.
- When your cashews are ready to be used start making the soup by heating olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the shallot to the dutch oven and cook until browned, about 2 minutes.
- Next, add cucumber and soaked cashews to the pot and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add peas and mint and cook until peas are quite soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add water and vegetable stock to the pot and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Add in the avocado and then puree with an immersion blender until very smooth.
- Lastly, add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Take your soup mixture and strain through a fine-mesh sieve, twice.
- Set pulp aside for another use or discard.
- All the soup needs is about 30 minutes in the refrigerator and it is ready to consume.
If you are really digging this cold soup thing, then check out this recipe for gazpacho.
