- “Creamy” Southwest Gazpacho
For some reason, I am obsessed with cool summer soups lately. I decided to try making the ultimate cool refreshing summer soup: Gazpacho! – with a southwest twist. Many cooks describe gazpacho as a “liquid salad,” and likewise mine could be labeled “liquid salsa.”
I decided to throw in an avocado to try for a “creamy” texture. It worked great and tasted smooth and delicious, but the color was very muddy. I added a small can of tomato paste for color. Result: creaminess with a deep red color! Perfecto! Continue Reading…
Some recipes are so unique that the taste, smell and texture stays with you forever. So it is with Chilled Avocado Soup and my celebration of the 200th birthday of America in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was a foreign exchange student living with a Mexican family and attending the University of Guadalajara. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, but on July 4th, 1976, a particularly notable bicentennial celebration, I was homesick. I was daydreaming of potato salad, barbecued chicken and strawberry shortcake. What the cook of the household set before me was a strange, pale green concoction in a bowl. I sat in stunned silence as she announced: “Sopa de Aguacate.”
When you are a guest in a foreign country, you do not refuse food. It is an insult to your hosts. I reluctantly dipped in my spoon and braced myself for something weird and inedible that must be choked down at any cost. Much to my astonishment, it was creamy, frothy, sweet and savory – one of the most delicious soups I have ever eaten still to this day. Now that I think about it, who doesn’t love avocados in any way, shape or form? And folks have touted the creamy green flesh as having almost magical powers: keeping you thin, protecting your vision and even curing cancer!
I recreated the food memory recently, fearing that I would be disappointed, since almost all recreated dishes pale in comparison to a powerful food memory. Much to my surprise, this soup was even more delicious than that of my memory. I used just a hint of freshly grated nutmeg – not enough to actually taste the nutmeg on its own, but just a hint of something intriguing added to give depth. I also used Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream, which I am sure our Guadalajara cook used.
This refreshing cool and frothy summer soup is a snap to make in your blender and the taste and texture are amazing . Put this soup on your “100 Things to Eat Before I Die” list!
“Feasting is also closely related to memory. We eat certain things in a particular way in order to remember who we are. Why else would you eat grits in Madison, New Jersey?”
Jeff Smith, ‘The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast’
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Who says guacamole is the one and only southwest chip dip?
When I was having some people over a few days ago, I decided I needed a dip to go with my enchiladas. But. No avocados. =Sigh=
When I searched the pantry, I had lots of canned black beans and one can of garbanzo beans, both protein powerhouses and so yummy, but could they be yummy together? Answer: Most definitely!
The cumin and chipotle powders are fabulous together, the raw garlic adds a very nice mild bite, and the garbanzo and black beans are a perfect texture pair. I LOVE this dip, and will make it again and again. Especially when I run out of avocados!
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I know what you’re thinking, ”Crepe recipes? On a Southwest food blog?” That’s what I thought. Until I tasted fajita steak and chipotle chicken wrapped up in a crispy crepe, that is.
We found a great little restaurant in Irvine, California last month called the Crepe Maker. The menu is built around a basic crepe recipe filled with just about anything you can imagine. Savory, sweet, Southwest, Italian, they have it all. My husband was skeptical, to say the least. ”Crepes aren’t really food. Are they?”
These crepes certainly are! I have never had a crepe like this. The crepes I have eaten are usually small and soft… delicate little things. The crepes at Crepe Maker are large and crispy! Think pizza sized. They are folded in half and rolled into a cone shape in order to hold such hearty ingredients as fajita steak, marinated chicken and even Tex-Mex combos with corn and black beans. My favorite crepe turned out to be the one I tried on a whim. It has marinated chicken, melted cheddar cheese, tomatoes, spinach, walnuts and… wait for it… raspberry jam! It was delicious! The raspberry jam added tartness and just a little sweet to the dish. The jam melted slightly in the warm crepe and spread itself around on the spinach greens. I’ve been craving the crepes ever since we returned home.
The cooks at the Crepe Maker shared their tips for making the perfect crepe. So, get your filling and your crepe batter ready and cook along.
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I’m not usually a “salad for dinner” kind of girl. But when summer hits full boil here in Phoenix, salad recipes are all I can think about. Salads are quick, easy and there are no rules to follow; you just throw in what ever sounds good at the time. This Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts is not only what sounds good this time, but it’s all I have this time.
Apparently, I didn’t do that great of a job shopping before I went into the hospital for knee surgery. I found a strange collection of ingredients in the fridge when I got home: left over pizza, dried out chicken nuggets and really smelly chinese food. All signs that my family survived any way they could… by eating take-out. The big bag of salad greens I purchased is still sitting there, looking a little sad. I must have been under the influence of pre-surgery medication when I bought it. I had these images of my husband sitting around, munching on salad and marveling at its crisp, summery, freshness while I was in the hospital eating reconstituted beef bullion and rubberized pork chops.
However, there is a big patch of really fresh strawberries in the fridge that wasn’t there before. He probably picked them up at the grocery store on one of his “emergency runs” for ice cream (the evidence is in the trash can). So, I mixed the strawberries and bag of greens with creamy goat cheese from the fridge (every Southwest cook has goat cheese in the fridge) and candied walnuts from the pantry for a fresh summery salad that made me feel so happy to be home.
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candied walnuts,
cheese,
easy dinners,
goat cheese,
healthy,
low carb recipes,
low fat recipes,
low glycemic recipe,
meatless monday,
pantry,
salad,
southwest recipe,
spinach,
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