Tony's avocado, cucumber and coriander soup. (Photo: Tony Jackman) The spring onions are blended with cucumber, just to start with. A handful of rinsed coriander leaves is thrown in and melded with the makings of this frisky chilled soup, before scoops of the freshest possible avocado are spooned in.
The colour is a beautiful green, and this comes not only from the avocado. You leave the cucumber unpeeled, so that the dark green skin can enhance the verdancy of it. You also use the green parts of the spring onions, to the same effect.
The spring onions I used were rather chunky ones, but of course you can use slimmer ones if that’s what you can find. Either way, use all, or almost all, of the greener ends of the leaves.
I considered using a dash of vinegar, but I was nervous that this degree of acid might curdle the dairy, so decided against it. I took a chance with fresh lime juice instead, which gave it a nice bit of zing without any spoiling.
Greek yoghurt plays an important part, and I finished the soup with full cream milk, only because it was somewhat thicker than I wanted it to be, and the milk was the perfect thinning ingredient.
The English cucumber I chose was long and slim, the avocados sizeable and perfectly ripe.
Tony’s avocado, cucumber and fresh coriander soup
Ingredients
3 large avocados
1 English cucumber, cubed, not peeled
4 spring onions, chopped, including green parts
Bunch of coriander
2 cups Greek yoghurt
Juice of 3 fresh limes
Full cream milk, as needed, to thin out the soup
Salt and white pepper to taste
A green garnish
Method
Rinse the coriander and leave it to drain in a colander or sieve.
Cut the ends off the cucumber and dice it. Put them in a food processor with the spring onions, which need to be chopped, including the dark green parts.
Blend thoroughly, add to the blender and process for 2o seconds or so.
Peel the avocados and scoop all of the flesh into the blender. Add half of the yoghurt and blend well.
Add the coriander, the remaining yoghurt and the lime juice, season with salt and white pepper, and blend.
The result will be quite thick. Decide how runny you want your soup to be, and pour milk in slowly while stirring, until you’re happy with the consistency.
Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, and put it in a metal bowl in the fridge for three or four hours so that you can serve it well chilled.
I served it with shop-bought garlic-herb braai rolls, heated and crisped up in an air fryer. Garnish with a sprig of coriander, mint or basil. DM
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.