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.

Gazpacho time !!

The other day my sister gave me this beautiful basket of tomatoes from her yard in the banana belt of Sunnyvale. Maybe all of Sunnyvale is a banana belt...where I live two blocks for the edge of Monterey Bay is certainly NOT. I can't grow tomatoes here, except tiny cherry tomatoes that ripen in October. Please don't write to me about San Francisco Fog tomatoes, tomatoes are meant to be grown where it is warm and sunny, that's what makes them taste so good.

With this bounty at hand, my taste buds turned to the great summer treat: gazpacho. It's so easy and versatile, I knew I could put together a batch from what I had on hand.

I used my recipe from two summers ago. I didn't have a red onion so I used the sweet yellow onion I had on hand, I added celery since I had some, and used some roasted bell pepper from my freezer. Mostly it's just chopping and tossing it into bowl, the most tedious part is removing the skins from the fresh tomatoes. A couple of cups go into the blender, and added back to the bowl. Be sure to chill it before serving.

I enjoyed it before ushering for Much Ado About Nothing in the Glen and it made a refreshing appetizer before the meal I served to my nephew and his family last night.