breaking from tradition

like most households,

we have our evening routine

down pat.

i make dinner.

afterward, we bring dishes into

the kitchen, 

i put away any leftover food,

wrap up unused ingredients,

like half a lemon

or a few pieces of scallions

and leave larry to the cleaning.

it works for us

and we rarely vary from 

that very comfortable pattern.

which is why, you can imagine,

the look of horror on his face

last week - after briefly basking

in the realization that the cleanup

from this meal would be a snap -

when he turned from the sink 

just before 9:30,

to see me chopping an onion.

garlic,

tomatillos, 

serrano peppers

and a bunch of limes,

were hanging out nearby.

earlier in the day,

when i had been searching

for something, anything

to make in the extreme

heat, i opened up one

of my favorite cookbooks,

super natural cooking

right to page 95.

the picture was so beautiful,

and it was so hot in the apartment

and it reminded me of a soup

i hadn't had in a really long time,

one that i had always thought of fondly,

as a watered-down version

of guacamole.

it was thin, certainly 

avocad0-based, dotted

with chopped onions,

tomatoes and cilantro.

it was cool and satisfying,

but it looked nothing like

swanson's thick, green, smooth

soup that i had somehow

never before noticed. 

it's amazing what heat will do

to a person.

i made the shopping list.

in the store, unfortunately,

i was deterred by two things:

1) no tomatillos. anywhere.

we actually went to three stores,

because i just couldn't believe

that there weren't any to 

by found. finally, i gave in

and bought a large can

of tomatillos. certainly not

ideal, but also, especially

when they are destined

to be simmered and pureed,

not such a sin either.

2) the avocado situation -

bleak. at the first store,

they were so soft that i 

actually broke one trying

to softly press it. the second

store didn't have any and at

the third, they were as hard

as, well, an under-ripened 

avocado.

so, i made the decision

to use the can

and never speak of it again

(yes, i cracked already -

i'm weak, what can i say?).

this way, i could prepare

the first part, which required

simmering the above ingredients

together, pureeing and then

chilling, the night before.

i knew the next day, that

when i went to the fourth - 

and always faithful store -

i could pick up the perfectly

ripe avocados.

it was a great plan -

and in hindsight, one that worked

quite well - 

but certainly ambitious

for a hot sunday evening.

in the time it took for larry

to load up the dishwasher,

i had everything in the pot.

once it came to a boil,

i reduced it to a simmer, 

let it cook the requisite five minutes

and then pulled out

the immersion blender. 

the recipe instructed to let the mixture

cool for 30 minutes before stirring

in lime juice and placing in

the fridge.

we used this time to suck

on these odd little korean ice pops

we had found the day before

and pray for a stiff breeze.

the next day,

i was so happy to have the dinner

three-quarters of the way done.

i bought nicely ripened avocados

after work and when i came home,

i set to work mashing them with a fork.

they...didn't want to be mashed.

maybe the heat made me weak, 

i don't know.

so i tried with the immersion blender,

also a no-go. 

next, i splashed some soup 

into the bowl of avocados. 

perfect. 

they pureed into a beautiful green. 

and although i had been worried

all day that the 

chilling soup was too

thin and that i had somehow 

messed up

the proportions by using 

the canned tomatillos,

as soon as i blended in the creamy

avocados, i knew i was fine.

i modified the original step

of frying sliced corn tortillas

in clarified butter and instead,

coated a pan with cooking

spray to help the slivers

brown (i was planning to bake

them, but there was no

way i was turning on the oven).

chopped tomatoes and a few

drizzles of crema

finished off the bowl.

all three brought welcome

contrast.

the soup was really 

the most amazing food

for a hot hectic night

after work. 

and even though i worried that

it might suffer from 

texture repitition - i become

restless from the same spoonful

over and over again -

i don't think i could ever

tire of this soup.

while the original recipe

calls for the soup

to chill for at least two 

hours, i strongly 

recommend letting

it sit overnight. not only

will the flavors have more time to 

meld together, but you also

can be sure that it is cold

by the time you need it.

and i think larry, who

was thrilled to eat dinner

before 10pm, would be willing

to attest to this.

tomatillo-avocado soup

adapted from super natural cooking

in spite of the fact that i'm not the biggest fan of chicken, if i'm using store-bought, i much prefer chicken broth or stock over vegetable stock, so i switched to the former. i was a bit worried about the avocados browning, so i rubbed each half with a bruised lime before blending - i would do it again. and, when cutting the corn strips, i used kitchen sheers.

you could totally make this whole soup a day ahead of time. we ate this two nights in a row (and the next day for lunch) and the color never faded. i think it would make a fabulous first course for a dinner party or if you for some reason have tons of shot or shooter glasses, a special pass-around appetizer.

1 large can tomatillos (there should be 12 inside)

3-4 serrano chilies, seeded and chopped

1 white onion, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

6 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (i used 3 limes, here)

4 large ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

1/2 cup packed chopped cilantro

kosher salt

2 limes

12 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips

1 tomato, halved, seeded and chopped

mexican crema or thinned sour cream

in large saucepot, add tomatillos, squeezing inside the pot using your hands to slightly break them up. add serranos, onion, garlic and stock. over medium-high heat, bring to a boil; immediately lower the heat and simmer 5 minutes. using immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. (at this point, swanson puts the soup through a strainer. it's optional and i chose not to do this and i don't think the soup suffered any. in fact, i wouldn't strain the soup next time, either.)

cool soup 30 minutes; stir in 1/4 cup lime juice. cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

in bowl, place peeled and pitted avocados, cilantro and the juice of 2 limes. sprinkle with kosher salt. add a generous splash of chilled soup. using immersion blender, blend avocados. add mixture to tomatillo mixture and, using immersion blender, blend until smooth. add more salt or lime, if needed.

in large skillet or saute pan coated with cooking spray over medium heat, cook tortilla strips until golden, turning as needed. place on paper towel to cool.

divide soup among bowls; top with crema, chopped tomatoes and crispy corn tortilla strips.