Recipe of the Week: Cucumber Avocado Soup

It has been an extremely hot, humid week in Toronto. It's certainly been too hot to cook indoors, but even the idea of eating hot food from the barbeque seems too much. So after days of tossing together bean salads, green salads and gazpacho, I thought I would try something a little different. This recipe for Cucumber Avocado Soup takes about five minutes to prepare and you can make it earlier in the day when it is a bit cooler and let it chill until you are ready to eat. Add some crusty bread and some fruit for dessert and you'll have a nice light dinner that will help you keep cool.

Cucumber Avocado Soup1 chilled seedless cucumber1 firm-ripe avocado2 scallions, coarsely chopped1/4 cup fresh mint leaves1/2 cup well-shaken chilled buttermilk1 1/2 cups cold water

1. Cut cumber into 3 equal pieces, then coarsely chop 2 pieces. Pit and peel avocado and coarsely chop one half.2. Blend together chopped cucumber, chopped avocado, scallions, mint buttermilk, water and 1 teaspoon salt in a blender until smooth.3. Chill soup.4. Cut remaining cucumber and avocado into 1/4 inch pieces and stir into soup before serving. Season to taste with salt. Thin with additional water if desired.

Serves 4

This recipe comes from the July, 2007 issue of Gourmet Magazine.