Cucumber Salsa
FRESH Food is the Best! I don’t think that there is any argument to that. If you had fresh strawberries being put in a blind taste test against thawed strawberries from the freezer, I am sure the fresh ones would win. Or if you had …
Tag: cucumber
Refrigerator Pickles
It summer, you have a ton of cucumbers fresh from the garden, and you are craving pickles NOW! You begin to make your favorite pickle recipe and then wonder if there was a way you could eat fresh-from-the-garden pickles sooner than your standard recipe makes. …
Chilled Cucumber Soup
I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: NOW is the Season of Garden Fresh Veggies!
If you have a garden I’m sure your are rolling in it’s bounty and if you are shopping for your produce than I am sure that you love the seasonal prices and the awesome tastes you are currently enjoying!
We have been on the receiving end of lots of garden goodies from our neighbors. I wanted to take some of my bounty and try to experiment with a Chilled Soup. I’ve never really had a chance to explore these before (and only had one chilled soup that I have ever enjoyed – it was on a cruise when I was about 18, but I don’t even remember what flavor it was).
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This Chilled Cucumber Soup seasoned with a hot pepper and mint is a nice balance of sweet and salty. The texture reminded me of a liquid that has ice chunks in it (granular?) even though I never had it in the soup. Overall the flavor was enjoyable but the texture I would have liked a little smoother, so maybe a blender would have worked better than the food processor. Enjoy & let me know what you think!
Chilled Cucumber Soup
(adapted from Food and Style)
- 2 lbs cucumbers (seeded/peeled/cut in 3” pieces
- 1/4 medium red onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 jalapeño (stem & seeds removed)
- 8 large mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 6oz non-fat plain yogurt
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor with 1/2 cup of the spring water. Pulse a few times so the ingredients are coarsely chopped, then process until soup is very smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. If necessary, thin with the remaining water to the desired consistency.
Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight, until well chilled. Place the soup in the freezer for 30 minutes before serving OR let it set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to get totally chilled. Ladle soup in chilled soup bowls or cocktail glasses. [Drizzle a little lemon oil in the center of each bowl.] Garnish with a mint leaf, curl of cucumber, and serve immediately.
And I leave you with today’s Question of the Day… what is YOUR favorite way to enjoy a good cold soup?
Cucumber Boat Appetizer
This is the season of carefree entertaining and although I love me some roasted veggies (the house smells awesome from roasted veggies right now – look forward to those posts in the coming days & weeks) we don’t always want/need to heat up the house! This recipe easily serves 1 or 2 as an appetizer, but is obviously very easy to adapt for more. Just count (about) a whole cucumber person as you adapt this for your next gathering.