Avocado-Cucumber Soup with Crabmeat
Its 101 degrees in Brooklyn today and there is no relief in site. As a result, my appetite has miraculously disappeared. The only real solution is to have something cooling for dinner, and this cold soup sure did the trick. The crabmeat is a good source of protein and doesn’t require any cooking if you buy from your fish monger in a pint container. The key is to add lots of fresh herbs and enough lemon to give it a refreshing zing. With this heat continuing through the week, I suspect you will be seeing more chilled soup recipes. I rounded out my meal with a glass of Salneval Albarino from Rias Baixas in Spain, a refreshing white wine that has aromas of peaches and lemon and a bracing acidity that cools in this crazy weather. I feel much better already.
Avocado-Cucumber Soup with Crabmeat
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 ounces fresh lump crabmeat
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus more to taste
Sea Salt and black pepper to taste
6 cups cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 avocado
1/4 cup fresh basil, slivered
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 cup chopped chives
1/8 cup chopped mint
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
juice of one lemon, about 3 tablespoons
Salt and white pepper
Procedure
1. Mix the crabmeat with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Blend all the other ingredients and adjust lemon, salt and jpepper according to taste.
3. Serve with 3 tablespoons of crabmeat in the middle of the soup.
I've recently moved my life from Brooklyn, New York to Sonoma County, California to pursue a life in food and wine. I am now the executive chef at