almond cilantro soup with cucumber lime slices!

since yesterday was cinco de mayo, and i'm making this for a dinner party tomorrow i thought this would be a good start!

i saw a recipe like this on PBS (PBS has some great cooking shows. they are fun to watch, get the recipes, & then modify with cruelty free ingredients). the host was at a culinary school in a small mexican town that i am completely drawing a blank on the name! ugh, anyway it looked & sounded delicious so, i had to have my hand at the soup. the hardest part of this recipe is getting all the cilantro off the stems, and cleaning the blender. let's do this!

Cilantro Almond Soup

• 4 cups of soy or almond milk
• 3 tablespoons of soy butter
• 4 leeks
• 1 large onion
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 2 bushels of cilantro
• handful and half of almonds
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

1. cut the green tops of the leek. cut remaining leek into 2-3 inch pieces. halve this pieces lengthwise. cut onion into large chunks, these babies can be BIG. peel garlic, but leave whole
2. combine leek, onion, garlic, butter,salt, pepper, and 3 cups of soy/almond milk in large skillet. let simmer until leeks and onions are limp. limp is good here. what we're making here is a sort of bechamel. i usually let this simmer until the very end.
3. while that is simmering, in a blender combine almonds, cilantro (removed from stems), splash of olive oil and rest of soy/almond milk. blend this for a good amount of time. all the cilantro should be completely blended, no leaves left. when this is blended it should be about the consitancy of natural peanut butter.
4. take the cilantro almond blend and transfer to cooking pot. place a strainer over the pot, and strain the bechamel mixing the liquid with the blend (this is why the veggies can be left in such big chunks). the leeks, onions, and garlic that were strained from the bechamel is garbage. if throwing all those veggies bums you out, compost dat shit! sometimes i like to take a few of the onions, & toss them in the soup.
5. simmer until they are blended together.
6. eat!

i made this soup with my good friends, cristin & roberta, & we put it over rice. almost the way a curry would be served. it was super yummy.

Cumber Lime Slices

• cucumber
• lime
• kosher salt
• crushed red peppers

so easy.

1. peel and slice cumcumber.
2. squeeze lime over slices.
3. sprinkle salt over.
4. rub crushed red peppers in hands, and sprinkle over slices.
5. toss dat shit.
6. eat dat shit.

i dated a guy from Guadalajara for a bit, and he showed me this snack. i love it. i eat them all summer. it's the perfect summer snack, and the flavor is so fresh!