Recipe: Avocado Soup with Herbs, Slivered Radishes, and Pistachios (blender)

AVOCADO SOUP WITH HERBS,
SLIVERED RADISHES, AND PISTACHIOS

"Avocado pureed with buttermilk (low-fat) and yogurt (with the cream on top) yields a pale green soup laced with masses of minced herbs, textured with cucumber, and garnished with slivered radishes, herbs, and green pistachios. All in all, it's a fine soup for a hot day, and although the recipe makes just a scant quart, it will be enough for four or more servings."

2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 cup yogurt, preferably whole-milk
1 large avocado, peeled and pitted
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 large garlic clove
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
3 slender scallions, white parts plus a bit of the green, finely minced
3 tablespoons chopped dill
1 tablespoon snipped chives
1 tablespoon minced marjoram or oregano
1 tablespoon minced tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 jalapeno chile, seeded and chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon sweetener, such as agave syrup*, to taste
TO FINISH:
Finely sliced chives and chive blossoms
Thinly slivered radishes
Dill, mint, and cilantro sprigs
1/3 cup shelled pistachios or walnuts

1. Puree the buttermilk, yogurt, avocado, and a quarter of the peeled cucumber in a blender until smooth, then pour it into a bowl.

2. Mash the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir it into the puree along with the scallions, herbs, chile, and lime zest. Season to taste with salt, pepper, lime juice, and sweetener, if needed. Seed and finely dice the remaining cucumber and add to the soup. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Just before serving, taste and correct the seasonings.

3. Ladle the soup into bowls, then cover the surface with the chives, radishes, herb sprigs, and pistachios.

*Agave Syrup: For those who don't like using refined sugar, organic or not, agave syrup offers and alternative. It's sweeter than sugar but has a low glycemic index. While there's more to it than pure sweetness, its flavor is not a pronounced as that of honey or maple syrup. Derived from agave, the same plant used for making tequila, the liquid form of the syrup is easy to add to foods as it dissolves instantly. Agave syrup can be found in natural food stores.

Makes 3 1/2 cups
Excerpted from Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen by Deborah Madison
Copyright 2006 by Deborah Madison. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.