Raw “Cream” of Asparagus Soup

Raw? Yes… Raw. And Vegan. So that means no animal products whatsoever – including dairy. WHY would someone want to eat raw asparagus soup you ask? Because it tastes phenomenal and some studies show that a raw diet can be very good for you. If you’re not sure what a raw/living diet is… click here for more info.

A while back, I tried out Boston’s only raw restaurant, Grezzo (which is in the North End) and had a great experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the soups in particular, so when I came across this recipe (while doing a 2-day detox) I was pretty psyched to try it. If you have never tried “raw” food before and want to give it a go… this is definitely a great place to start… as this soup was DELICIOUS. The Husband loved it as much as I did and the 4-yo at least tried it, but promptly turned his nose up to it and made a “yucky face”. Most likely due to the raw garlic — which is enough to turn any 4-yo’s nose up.

I found the recipe while doing a search on “Raw Food” on Food Gawker. This recipe comes courtesy of another food blog — Elle’s New England Kitchen – who obtained the recipe from a market website.

Raw Cream of Asparagus Soup

Makes 4 Servings

1 bunch raw asparagus, ends trimmed
1 ripe avocado
1 liter coconut water
1 cup raw cashews (I used a 50-50 combo of raw cashews and almonds)
1/4 c fresh dill
Juice of one lemon (I used about 1/2 of a large one)
1 tsp tamari (I didn’t have any, so I used soy sauce)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 ear fresh (raw) corn, kernels removed
*I also used a little Hawaiian red sea salt for garnish

Add all ingredients except the corn to blender. If it’s too much to fit at once, you can do it in two batches. Blend until smooth and/or desired texture.

Top with fresh corn, a twist or two of black pepper and a sprinkling of sea salt.

I cut my asparagus into pieces first… and picked the dill fresh my garden. The little white squares you see are the pieces of coconut that reside at the bottom of the coconut water. If you have never had coconut water, it is NOTHING like coconut milk. First off, it’s practically fat free and second, it literally has the consistency of water. It’s great! And, it contains a fair amount of Calcium and about 5% of your daily Iron needs. You can’t go wrong… (though it’s NOT sugar free with a whopping 22g per can).

So here is the “Before” blending:

And here is the after:

I poured the soup — which was fairly thick — into the bowls, topped them with the fresh corn, salt, pepper and a nasturtium flower and leaf. Gorgeous! But would it taste as good as it looked??

Even better than I expected. This soup was phenomenal. It was creamy, sweet, had the crunch of the corn, the little bit of salt on top was a great contrast (I highly recommend it) and the garlic gave it a subtle but substantial bite. It wasn’t bitter at all, like I thought it might be from the asparagus. It was just GOOD. I asked the Husband to taste it before I told him what it was. He couldn’t guess, but he did ask “does it have cashew’s in it???” So, so, so delicious. A must try!