Cucumber Soup
Originally uploaded by ulterior epicure.
Sometimes, life is a bowl of cherries. Other times, it’s a garden overflowing with cucumbers.
Why, why, why, I always ask myself August through September, do I plant so many cucumber plants? Pickling cucumbers, Burpless cucumbers, Asian cucumbers… Next year – no more cucumbers.
If you’re head-long into the same predicament I’m in, you’ve no doubt tried new and interesting ways of eating (or giving away) this faithful and prolific summer producer.
I got so sick of peeling, seeding, and cutting the darn things that I finally decided to just be lazy. Here’s my rough-guide recipe for a chilled cucumber soup.:
Peel three large cucumbers and rough-chopped them into chunks (the ones I was using happened to be a varietal that had very little soft seeds that aren’t bitter). Chuck them into a blender with about 2 cups of yogurt, a dash of salt and cumin, a tablespoon each of dijon mustard (grainy) and lemon juice. Let ‘er whirl for a good two minutes until the cucumbers are pureed. Stick the soup in the ice box to chill for an hour or more.
When ready to serve, garnish the soup with a nice dollop of creme fraiche and a sprig of dill. It’s a refreshing and light way to start (and/or end) your hot summer day.
For a more substantial all-in-one light meal – bundle strands of smoked salmon or pile lump crab meat in the middle of your bowl and pour the soup around it. Garnish with creme fraiche (or sour cream, chopped dill and/or chives).
6 replies on “summer shades of pastel…”
Ilove cooking! Ilove summer too!;)
Hey U.E. –
I finally got a chance to try one of your recipes. I thought I would try something simple and work my way to the difficult ones. The weather has been 100 degrees all week long here in S.D., CA and so I thought I would try this recipe. It came out perfect. It was so refreshing and light. My boy-friend thought I bought it somewhere. Thanks ;-)
Looks fabulous. I hope to find the time to try this recipe! Hope all is going splendidly for you!
This recipe sounds like the very thing I’m looking for to serve at a small luncheon I am planning. However you did not make note of how many people it will serve. Please reply with this info. Thanks!!
Four, conservatively – for a first course.
I was looking for uber-fast, no-cook recipes for a dinner party recently, and this was a huge hit! It actually pairs really nicely against gazpacho.