Day 9: Garlic Much?

White Gazpacho Soup with Shaved Asparagus

Food & Wine; Pioneer Woman

So I've had my eye on this recipe, mostly because I've never liked how regular gazpacho tastes like I'm eating tomato chunks. I wanted to try a tomato-less soup and see if I liked the chilled soups any better.

First of all, this recipe was super easy. All you need to do is blanch a cauliflower and dice up a few other veggies, then pulverize the entire mess and wait for it to chill. I did NOT have almonds, mostly because my budget prevents me from buying them, so I used pecans instead because I have a TON of those. I liked the pecan taste, but the soup did end up a little less-white and more beige because of it.

Second, be warned. Everything that makes regular gazpacho have a bite and kick to it is in here. Not only is there suppose to be ONE ENTIRE SHALLOT (I used half) and TWO CLOVES of garlic, my tongue is still ringing with this soup. This should definitely be served in appetizer sizes, or you should cut down on the shallot/garlic mix. Or sleep in separate bedrooms for a week or so, that should just about get rid of the garlic taste in my mouth...

You can see I added some color to my soup. I wanted to convert the shaved asparagus pizza recipe Megan found for me earlier this week, but after reading over the recipe, decided it looked way to delicious not to make another day. So instead I blanched a few stalks and made this quick shaved salad I found online. Tasty...and super easy!