We've been craving all things cool and blended at the moment in the Dovebrook Kitchen and at home! The weather is starting to get a bit more changeable and unpredictable but after tasting some wonderful gazpacho in Majorca we decided to try making some of our own. We've also been looking at fun ways to ensure our son Cosmo is getting more greens into his diet and so I decided the simplest way would be to blend a load of delicious green veg and see what he makes of it- and he seemed to like it a lot, accompanied with some lovely wholemeal toast.
This avocado, tomato and lime gazpacho is super simple to make and we love having a break from cooking a whole load of ingredients. These require minimal prep, just some chopping and then simply blending everything. Now that we are getting some great tasting seasonal tomatoes, we are having them on virtually a daily basis and putting them into most of our meals!
Raw Tomato, Lime and Avocado Gazpacho (adapted from a Lee Watson recipe)
Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 purple spring onions, finely sliced
1 small red bell pepper
2 celery sticks, diced
Juice and zest of one lime
2 avocados, diced and de-stoned
300ml tomato passata
120ml water
1 tsp coconut or brown sugar
1.5 tsp sea salt
Large pinch of cayenne pepper (optional- can leave out if feeding babies/toddlers/kids)
2 handfuls of mixed seasonal herbs- we used chives, oregano, basil & parsley
Instructions:
Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.
Place 3/4 of the mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the remaining chopped veg and then season, maybe adding some more lime juice as well.
Serve chilled topped with lashings of fresh seasonal herbs.
Broccoli, Pea, Fennel & Mint Soup
This next soup combines raw broccoli, which I also discovered is delicious in a smoothie when blended from frozen! This soup has a lovely acidity running through it, as well as a freshness from the mint and creaminess from the cashews. A very nourishing light lunch, or the perfect appetiser for when you are entertaining guests for a summer dinner party.
Ingredients:
One small broccoli broken into florets
120g frozen Petit Pois
120g fennel, chopped
Juice of one lemon
5 mint leaves
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 tbsp soaked then toasted cashew nuts
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp onion powder or granules
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 an avocado, diced
1 tsp sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Optional extras: handful of fresh spinach and/or kale
Instructions
Simply blend everything and then serve after chilling for a couple of hours in the fridge. Garnish with chives, chive flowers, dill, fresh basil and any other seasonal herbs.
