No Cook Tomatillo Soup

This delicious no cook tomatillo soup, is almost too easy to prepare. No need to heat up the kitchen! Just a quick run to the grocery store for any ingredients you may need. Once everything is blended together the soup is ready to eat. However, a cooling period in the fridge improves the flavors.

Not really gazpacho

This week’s challenge at I Heart Cooking Clubs is “No Cooking Required”

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s website. There, in classic Bittman style, he lists 12 different kinds of gazpacho from classic to modern. He admits to using the term gazpacho loosely in some cases but that doesn’t mean the end result isn’t tasty. They all sounded refreshing to me.

I chose the tomatillo, avocado and orange version. Then I made the choice of purchasing our favorite salsa verde in order to avoid having to grill the tomatillos.

My grocery store presented me with a variety of tomatillo salsas. I chose a mild one but a tequila flavored salsa inspired me to add a splash of our favorite reposado tequila. I don’t regret making that decision in the slightest!

I’ve upgraded to a food processor

For years I’ve gotten along with a stick blender. This year I purchased an 8 cup food processor and haven’t looked back. I love that it shreds and slices. Instead of my box grater, I reach for my food processor now.

The food processor is the perfect size for two people. If I’m preparing a large recipe, I work in batches just like I did with the stick blender. It’s not as easy to clean as my box grater, but the versatility and respite for my aging hands makes it an excellent trade off.

After blending you can strain all or some of the soup and add water or juice to get the texture you like.

To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl or large glass. If you haven’t added it already, stir in a splash or more of tequila (totally optional) then garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, a dusting of Tajin seasoning and an orange wedge.

Tomatillo Soup

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Fridge time: 2 hours hours

Course: Soup

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups salsa verde
• 2 avocados
• 1 jalapeno (use as much as you like)
• 1 thick slice of bread, or more
• 1 bunch cilantro, thick stems removed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium orange, juiced (around ½ cup)
• salt, pepper, cayenne or Tajin seasoning to taste
• 2 cups water, more or less
• 2 oz tequila, or to taste (optional)

Instructions

• Place the salsa verde, avocado, bread, cilantro, orange juice, jalapeno, salt, pepper and olive oil into the bowl of a food processor or blender until it's as smooth as your equipment can manage.
• Blend or pulse until combined, scraping the sides on occasion. Gradually add about a cup of water to loosen everything up. Pour into a large bowl.
• Strain some or all of the mix, using more water or orange juice to achieve the desired texture and flavor.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• To serve, pour into a bowl or glass and garnish with orange and a dash of Tajin seasoning or cayenne. Offer a float of tequila at the table if desired.

Notes

We added tequila directly to the soup as only adults were consuming it.

For more orange flavor, add the zest, too.

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When we make a classic gazpacho, we like to strain out the seeds and larger bits the blender misses. However, for our tomatillo salsa we found that straining all of the soup left us with a thin product. In the end I added most of the pulp back.

Perhaps that wouldn’t be the case if we started with roasted tomatillos as Bittman suggests. Even so, we liked the combination of flavors and the fact that we didn’t have to heat up the kitchen to achieve them.

Don’t forget to drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what the rest of the club has prepared for the “No Cooking Required” theme.