Cucumber Avocado Soup & Smoked Salmon Lunch

We are now getting into the hottest days of summer, so here's a quick light meal idea for those days when it's too hot to move, let alone eat.

Cucumber Avocado Soup

This is a delicious, refreshing cold soup and it only takes a few minutes to prepare.  It also uses some of those cucumbers that you've got growing in your garden.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 cucumber that's been chilled in your refrigerator (If it's a variety that has a very tough skin, peel the cucumber)
  
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 ice cubes
  
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Chopped chives for garnish

Recipe:

• Remove the avocado skin and dice the fruit.
• Cut the cucumber into large chunks.
  
• Place the ice cubes in the blender and blend till they are chopped into small bits.
• Now add the avocado, cucumber and yogurt and blend on medium until everything is smooth.
• You can eat this as is, or you can cool the soup further by placing it into a non-reactive bowl and storing in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
• Serve with some chopped chives on top as a garnish.
• Add salt & pepper to taste.  (In my opinion, you really do need to add some salt to get the flavors to pop)

Smoked Salmon Plate

The soup recipe above is terrific but if you want to add a little more substance to the meal while still keeping things light, then I recommend pairing the soup with smoked salmon (also called lox or gravlax).  You can buy this in better super markets, bagel shops or delicatessens.  It's just cured salmon that has been smoked and sliced very thinly.

There's nothing to this dish.... You just plate the salmon and put out pumpernickel bread or crackers on which to eat it.  In our house, we also serve the salmon with diced red onion, capers and lemon wedges on the side.  You can garnish the salmon with the capers and onions if that's suits your taste, or just squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top of the salmon to brighten the flavor.  That's it.

Enjoy your meal and stay cool as we enter the dog days of summer.

If you have a favorite light summer meal, let me know by posting a comment this posting.

Comments

[Michaele]

Here is a summertime recipe I just love!
(I omit the shallots though)

Torn Tomato Salad with Goat’s Cheese
Serves 8

8 vine-ripened tomatoes
400 gm cherry tomatoes
2 golden shallots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
80 ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp white sugar
160 gm mature goat’s cheese

1 Place a sieve over a large bowl to catch juices and, using your hands, coarsely tear vine-ripened tomatoes into large pieces. Squash cherry tomatoes between your fingers and add to sieve. Scatter with 2 tsp sea salt and stand for 20 minutes, then pour juices into a small saucepan, add shallot and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or until reduced to 2 tbsp. Add sherry vinegar, olive oil and sugar and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2 Transfer tomatoes to a serving bowl or platter and drizzle with dressing. Thinly slice mature goat’s cheese, scatter over tomatoes and serve immediately.

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks Michaele. This is right up our alley; my wife and daughter are huge goat cheese fans and we will surely give this recipe a try.