Stone Fruit Soup (RAW)

The other day I wanted to do something a little different with my baked tofu. I was planning to serve it with basmati rice and sauteed dinosaur kale, which would've been perfectly fine, but I decided it needed a sauce. Scanning my local independent grocer's produce shelves, I discovered some lovely Ranier Cherries.

(photo by InspirationDC)

Luscious, sweet and fresh, they glowed like a beacon, just calling out to be eaten. Their beautiful yellow skin with pink blush reminded me of peaches, which made me think the perfect accompaniment would be some fresh local peaches, which also happen to be in season.

I decided to combine the two along with some orange juice, cinnamon and mint, to cook down into a compote. Perfection!

The next day I had a raw food lesson with a client who, coincidentally, had asked me if I could come up with a recipe using peaches. I thought to myself, "I wonder if I can use these same ingredients and make a cool summer soup?" With a little tweaking and the addition of some sweet young Thai coconut meat and water for the base, I had the most refreshing summer soup I've ever tasted.


Stone Fruit Soup (serves 2-4)

1 cup Ranier cherries, pitted
3 fresh peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
meat of 1 young Tha coconut, plus about 1/2 cup of coconut water
juice of 1 orange (about 1/4 cup)
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
1 Tbl fresh mint, chopped fine

Reserve several cherries, cut in half for garnish. In a high-speed blender, puree cherries, peaches, coconut meat, coconut water and orange juice until smooth. Add cinnamon, sea salt and fresh mint and blend briefly, just to combine. Garnish with cherry halves and fresh mint.