When I was in Chicago for BlogHer this summer, I visited a college friend named John. Since he’s fairly new to Chicago and his kitchen was less-than stocked, I had the opportunity to drag him to every restaurant in Chicago that I wanted to try.

One night, we started with happy hour and wound up at Table 52, chef Art Smith’s “home of Southern hospitality in Chicago.” The food is all sourced locally, from fine organic markets and the decor is elegant and intimate.

While I’m sure it had nothing to do with the pre-dinner adult beverages, we were starving by the time we sat down at our cloth-napkin clad table. To start, I ordered a salad with arugula and blue cheese with a champagne vinaigrette and John opted for cream of pureed fennel and potato soup.

What the waiter neglected to tell him when he rattled off the specials was the fact that the soup was served cold. John couldn’t have described it better when he said: “It’s kind of like eating melted ice cream that tastes like potato.”

Overall? The food was fantastic, but there is no debating that for some, chilled soups are an acquired taste. I’m starting to acquire that taste and when I saw this recipe on We Are Not Martha (love!) I had to try a variation of my own.

If you’re like me and love avocado, this soup could not be more refreshing and the texture was smooth and creamy. It’s perfect to eat alongside a sandwich or salad and lunchtime or with fresh fruit for a light dinner on a balmy day.

Chilled Avocado Soup

(Adapted from Martha Stewart Living August 2009)

What You Need:

1 whole avocado
1 large English (seedless) cucumber, diced
3/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used juice from one large fresh lemon)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and pepper, to taste

How-To:

Blend peeled, seeded cucumber, avocado, fat-free yogurt and fresh lemon juice in a blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste and thin with salt and pepper as desired. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve cold, garnished with diced cucumber.

Tagged as: avocado, chilled soup, cucumber