Cold Cucumber Soup

 

It's been a long time since I have added a recipe to my blog. I love this cold cucumber soup, it's so refreshing and versatile. The photo above shows these funny smaller yellow cucumbers which I have been buying at my farmers market. You can use regular green ones, of course. There is also a lot of latitude in the fresh herbs you can use. 

 

Ingredients

2 large European cucumbers, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 garlic clove

1/3 cup loosely packed dill ( cilantro, arugula...)

2 tablespoons loosely packed tarragon leaves ( basil, mint, oregano...)

1/4 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves ( cilantro, arugula...)

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling 

1  1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste 

 

Instructions

1) In a blender*, combine the chopped cucumber with the dill, tarragon, onion, parsley, ground white pepper, salt, olive oil, yogurt, lemon juice and garlic. Blend until smooth. * I like to start with the garlic.

 

2) Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours, or until chilled.
 

3) Taste and season the cucumber soup again as necessary just before serving. Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

Red Lentil Cauliflower Soup

I have a wonderful trade worked out with a friend. She comes to help me do several hours of serious yard work, we have lunch and then I give her a massage. Recently I threw together some red lentil soup doing a riff on this recipe. My friend was so impressed she asked me for the recipe...of course I had made it on the fly and had to recreate it after the fact. It is an easy and very satisfying soup for lunch after some hard physical labor or perfect for dinner on a cold night.

Red lentil cauliflower soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
1 small cauliflower, 1 cup chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp curry powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Better Bouillon*
1 tsp. salt

3-4 cups water *( or stock in which case you could leave out the Better Bouillon)

1) Heat olive oil in a large pot, add onion and sauté until soft and brown at the edges.
2) Add cumin seeds and curry powder, cook for 1-2 minutes stirring well.
3) Add cauliflower and peppers, stir and cook for a few more minutes.
4) Add lentils, water, salt and bouillon, start with 3 cups water, adjust later for how thick you want it.
5) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the lentils are very tender.

It tastes a whole lot better than it looks in this photo...

Beet Borsch(t)

This fall I was fortunate enough to travel to New England, I had a friend in Vermont and one in Massachusetts, I spent time with both. Strangely enough they both served me beet borsch made two very different ways. I loved them both and so far I have the recipe I like for one version and plan to work on the second one soon.

This soup feels like winter, deep red in color, hearty and good for a cold evening.
I made the omnivore version, it is easily adapted for the plant base diet*.
It begins with these humble ingredients.

Beet Borsch

2 cups peeled and diced beets ( 3-4 medium size beets)
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 pound beef stew meat cut into 1" pieces
1-2 large onions
3 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
6 cloves garlic, chopped.
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon  honey
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper
8 cups water
sour cream for topping
*If you are making the vegetarian recipe add 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon.

Most of the work for the soup comes in preparing the beets and cabbage.
The beets need to be peeled and cut into chunks while still raw.

The cabbage is shredded or chopped to the size you like for your soup.

1) Peel, chop and saute the onions to soften in a small amount of olive oil.
2) Add the beef to brown it.

3) Add the all veggies, spices, vinegar and water.
Note: as with most soup the exact about of each vegetable is flexible. While the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups of canned tomatoes, I used maybe 2 cups of my frozen tomatoes.

4) Simmer for 1 hour.

5) Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a nice salad and a slice of rye bread !!

Here is my friend's cat sitting on the original recipe.

Vegetable Soup

The other day I decided to revisit one of my earliest posts for cannellini bean and kale soup.
It such a great recipe for any vegetable soup. I had an assortment of vegetables in my fridge that needed using up: cauliflower, carrots, a celery root, mushrooms, kale etc...

I started by sauteing the onion, while it was softening in a separate pan I began to cook the mushrooms, partly because I wanted use half of them for a different dish and partly because they do release a lot of moisture when cooking. I wanted some of the veggies to roast/saute a bit before adding the liquid, it keeps them from turning to mush in the soup.

 Next I added the carrot , cauliflower and celery root, let them cook some before adding the mushrooms, greens, beans and liquids.

I used the mushroom liquid, water, the last of some miso, two frozen tomatoes. I think I threw some herbs in there somewhere and some garlic. If you want a more precise recipe check out the one mentioned above.

 I let it simmer for about 45 minutes, not too long so the veggies would retain some texture.

At the end I added a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar , salt and pepper to taste. It was soooo good, we had it for three meals last week and Bob requested it again this week. Of course, it won't be exactly the same because this week I have different vegetable to use up but that's part of the joy of vegetable soup !!

Pressure cooker lesson and Hippocrates Soup

In my list of goals for this year I mentioned wanting to learn how to use the pressure cooker that sits in its box in my garage. My dear friend Laurie volunteered to show me how to use it, since she uses hers occasionally.

First we had a lovely lunch of her latest soup discovery: Hippocrates soup. Here is Laurie's post about it on her blog. In a minute I will give you my rendition.

Back to the pressure cooker...now remember I have some trepidation going into this. I associate pressure cookers with exploding beans and hot steam.

Laurie gets out the instructions, reads them through, explains stuff to me about seals, and release valves and I can feel my eyes ( and ears) glaze over. She wisely decides to test my pot by boiling water in it. As it boils I quiz her about how often she uses it and for which recipes. So far I have not heard anything that really sells me on it. Most of the stuff I can do either in my slow cooker or stove top with a dutch oven.

The cooker heats up and steam starts coming out, but the top doohickey doesn't wobble like it is supposed to and steam is coming out of some other hole in top. We turn it off but it is still a safety hazard, yikes. After reading through the instructions, it turns out I am missing a very small but, yes, essential part of the top. I breathe a big sigh, not of disappointment but of relief. Maybe I don't need to overcome this fear and instead I have one less piece of cooking equipment to store in my pantry !!

I did get a very tasty soup recipe out of our afternoon together. Laurie sent me home with with a sample. Bob liked it so much I decided to make it a couple of days later.

To find out more about why it is called Hippocrates soup, go to Laurie's blog.
I am sharing this recipe because it is a wonderful, flexible, rich pureed soup that reminds me of a French potage. It's a soup for the soul !!

My version of Hippocrates Soup

Ingredients

2 large yellow potatoes
2 leeks
2 carrots
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
1 celery root ( or 2-3 stalks of celery)
1/2 cauliflower
1 cup purple cabbage
2 cups roasted tomato puree ( or whole tomatoes)
fresh herbs( small amounts of anything you have on hand, oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary)

2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1) The original recipe tells you not to peel most of the vegetables. I did peel the onion and the celery root. Otherwise just chop all the vegetables in large chunks except the garlic.

2) Place in a large pot on the stove and fill with just enough water to cover. You could also use stock if you prefer.

3) Add the tomato puree and fresh herbs.

4) Bring to a simmer and cook for two hours. You can also do this in a slow cooker overnight.

5) When it has cooled enough, puree in small batches in your blender. This is when I add the two cloves of garlic and the salt and pepper to taste.

6) Garnish with fresh parsley, yogurt or sour cream.

Next time: I try some parsnips, a bunch of fresh parsley or some chard.

Summer Soup : Gazpacho !!

It's hot today so I have gazpacho on my mind. In fact I just put some in the fridge to chill for tomorrow's dinner. I also promised my sister-in-law I would post this recipe soon. My brother is growing most of the ingredients in his garden. She got to taste it earlier this week. I made it to take on a one night camping trip we took to watch the Perseids meteor showers at Carrizo Plains.

Here's where we camped.

I knew it would be a warm night so a cold soup was just the ticket. It was !! We did see about a dozen nice shooting stars that night. The next day we headed to Lompoc for two nights with my brother and sister-in-law.

Anyway back to the gazpacho, I did a take off on a recipe by Alton Brown. I have served it several times to guests always with rave reviews. It's great as a starter or for lunch. The combination of flavors and textures are very refreshing.

Great Gazpacho

Ingredients

5-7 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cup tomato juice

1/2 red onion chopped

1 cup peeled, chopped cucumber

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 clove smashed garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 lime or lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

pinch cayenne ( optional)

5 fresh basil leaves, 1 avocado ( optional)

1) To peel the tomatoes, pour boiling water over them for one minutes, drain and cover them in cool water for another minute or so. They should peel easily that way. 

2) Chop the peeled tomatoes into small chunks and toss them into a bowl.

3) Peel and chop the red onion.

4) Peel and chop the cucumber and add it to the bowl.

5) Seed and chop the bell pepper, yes, in it goes.

6) Add the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, cumin, smashed garlic, salt and pepper ( and cayenne). Toss together gently.

7) Remove 1 1/2 cup of this mixture and blend it for 20 seconds in the blender. Mix it back in with the rest and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, which I prefer.

8) When you serve it, you can top it with a finely chopped fresh basil leaf and several chunks of avocado.

Feel free to add other fresh herbs and spices. The proportions of the vegetables are not that important, use more tomatoes, less cucumber or different peppers if you wish. I do find that letting the flavors marry overnight gives the best results.