It’s hard to top a day that includes hiking in the mountains, then enjoying a meal and a little wine outside while staring at said mountains. If that meal includes a new food discovery – like this Basil, Cucumber & Avocado Gazpacho, all the better.
Husband took me to Park City for my birthday last week and it was heavenly. We hiked for miles and miles, met some fun people and ate very, very well.
Some friends had recommended Blind Dog Restaurant & Sushi, so we had to check it out. It’s kind of an odd concept – basically two restaurants in one. There’s the sushi kitchen {not my thing} with an extensive menu of {apparently} great options. The other kitchen has a large menu with everything from burgers to steaks to seafood – all with creative twists.
One of the specials was a Basil, Cucumber & Avocado Gazpacho. It sounded like a perfect starter, and it was. Chilled and full of fresh summer flavors, I pretty much licked the bowl clean, and considered ordering a second.
The next day, we wandered up and down Main Street in Park City, checking out galleries and shops, and browsing restaurant options for that night’s dinner. Then after another long hike, we drove around looking at properties that most mere mortals can’t afford, getting ideas for that place we’d love to build “someday” out west. By then we were starving, and headed back into town for dinner.
Husband asked me which restaurant I wanted to try. And that’s when I broke one of my own rules – the one that mandates trying different places in a new town and NOT repeating restaurants. But it was MY birthday, and I was craving that gazpacho. So back we went.
It was just as delicious as the day before.
I got home last night, unpacked and went to the grocery store… and today, I made my own batch for lunch.
The toppings take this to another level – the more, the better!
- 1½ cups fresh basil leaves, divided
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 1 large cucumber, peeled
- 1 avocado
- ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped {optional}
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup ice water
- 2 Tbs fresh lime juice
- salt & white pepper
- ¼ cup toasted almonds, chopped
- Fill a medium sized bowl with ice and water. In a saucepan of boiling water blanch about ¼ cup basil and the mint for about 10 seconds and immediately transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain well and pat dry. In a blender purée herbs with avocado oil until smooth. Pour oil through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids, and discard solids. {Oil may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.}
- Cut about 6 very thin slices from cucumber. Seed the rest of the cucumber and add it to blender, along with 1 cup basil, the avocado, jalapeño {if using}, garlic and ice water. Blend until smooth. Add lime juice, salt and white pepper to taste.
- Thinly slice remaining basil.
- Divide soup between two bowls. Top each with sliced cucumber, basil and toasted almonds. Drizzle with mint oil and serve.
If you collect flavored oils {what, you DON’T?!} you might have something on hand that works well so you can just skip the first step… Then, making the soup takes all of about 5 minutes!
It’s best eaten right away – as anything with avocado is. However, I didn’t have any leftovers to see how long it would last!
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