I’m still over here, clinging onto soup season, even though the weather is getting warmer.
I love soup so much – it has so much versatility, you can build so much flavor into it, and you can add a metric ton of veggies to your meal without making the meal unbalanced. It’s a beautiful sorcery.
But, the weather is getting warmer, and sometimes curling up with a bowl of hot soup when it’s warm outside isn’t the most pleasant experience.
Gazpacho is a traditional Spanish soup that is served cold, and it is thickened with day-old bread. I love the idea of gazpacho, because it is full of flavor, but I have a confession to make: the concept of wet bread makes me nauseous. There are certain things/textures that just set me off – this is one of them.
That also being said, since it’s “paleo week,” using bread is off the table (yes, I pay attention to that stuff. I like cohesion). There is a variant of a gazpacho soup called a white gazpacho soup that is made from white grapes and uses almonds to thicken instead of bread, which is what inspired me to look at different nut thickeners as a means to make this recipe paleo. Arizona is known for its pecans, so that was a natural choice. From there, it was just a matter of finding flavors to compliment those pecans.
The result was AMAZING!
Let me be clear, this is not a gazpacho recipe. This is a cold soup recipe that is inspired by a gazpacho. I, in fact, used different flavor profiles to give this soup a more “Southwest” vibe. Also, in an effort to make this recipe easy and effortless, I didn’t peel any of the vegetables, and I only soaked the pecans for about an hour – so, the soup doesn’t have that velvety texture of a gazpacho, either. I actually like it much better that way – it gives the dish more texture.
This cold soup is paired with a warm cauliflower rice (purple, because, that’s what I got in my CSA box) that is full of fresh herbs, which provides a nice temperature and texture contrast. And, honestly, I got bored of chicken, so we got some shrimp from our local fish market, and boom, we had a dish!
This dish can be ready in under an hour, and requires very little cooking. Perfect as the days get warmer and we all want to be outside more!
A note on some of the specialty ingredients: The two ingredients that you might have difficulty finding outside of Arizona are wolfberry jam, mesquite flour, and pichuberries. All of these I get from our local farmers market, and the jam is sweetened with honey (and therefore is paleo). If you can’t find wolfberry jam, tomato jam will work (although it most likely won’t be paleo). Want to skip the jam all together? Add honey to your soup, to taste. For the pichuberries, you can substitute mango (or forego them altogether). The mesquite flour is available on Amazon, though if you aren’t going to use it all the time, it may not be a worthwhile investment. If that is the case, you can substitute 1 teaspoon brown sugar.
I hope you enjoy!
Paleo Shrimp and Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
For the Soup
- 2 cups pecans soaked in hot water for 2 hours
- 1 1/2 lbs cherry tomatoes (usually a small basket)
- 1/2 lb tomatillos
- 1 Anaheim chile or chile of your choice
- 2 Poblano chiles
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup mesquite flour
- 1 bunch dandelion greens
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- salt to taste
For the Relish
- 4 oz pichuberries fresh
- 1/4 cup wolfberry jam
- salt to taste
For the Cauliflower Rice
- 1 head cauliflower, large
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- 1T olive oil
- salt to taste
For the Shrimp
- 1 lb shrimp shells removed and deveined
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp non-dairy butter
Instructions
- Make the soup: place all ingredients in blender, except dandelion greens. Blend until pureed - mixture will still be slightly chunky. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Place dandelion greens in one layer on baking tray, and put under broiler until dried and charred. Check often - they go from charred to burned very quickly!
- Make cauliflower rice (or buy rice pre-chopped): Chop cauliflower heads into pieces and place in food processor. Pulse until cauliflower are in small pieces, resembling rice. Place cauliflower into a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer until cauliflower is tender. Drain and return to pan. Add chopped cilantro, olive oil, and lime juice, and stir to mix. Salt to taste.
- Season shrimp with chipotle powder and salt. Place in hot pan with olive oil, and add 2T butter. Cook until opaque, flipping halfway (and adding more butter if necessary).
- Make the Relish: Finely chop pichuberries. Add in wolfberry jam, and stir to combine. Season with salt to taste.
- Plate and serve - the soup and relish should be cold, and the shrimp and cauliflower rice warm when serving. Eat immediately.
