The other day, while washing out the blender (I am living my best life) it dawned on me that I hadn’t made a chilled soup in a while. We had a ton of cucumbers, and we always have lots of yogurt. So despite the fact that it was something like 24 degrees outside, I made cold cucumber soup. Given the timing of my FYCE posts this should hit at the perfect time for this, spring or summer.
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Cucumber soup is very easy and variants are found around the globe. It is endlessly adaptable and you can experiment with spices and “mix-ins”. I’ve previously made what I think is a “Mexican” version of this because I used chili flakes and added cooked, cooled shrimp at the end (don’t puree the shrimp), but I was served this at a “Mexican” restaurant so I don’t know if you’d actually find this in Mexico. I’ve seen it on Asian restaurant menus and it is well known in Eastern Europe (I think they use sour cream.)
Peel two large-ish cucumbers. Slice them horizontally, dig out the seeds (if you have a melon-baller, just sayin’) and then dice into chunks. Throw those in the blender. Dice a medium onion and into the blender it goes. Pour in plain (plain, absolutely no flavorings) Greek yogurt. This we also have in abundance but I had to steal from Better Half’s stash. I got about 16 oz. out of three—cups, maybe they’re known as? If you have a giant tub of Greek yogurt, which we also sometimes do, use about 2 cups. Slice a lemon in half, juice over the blender, and grate some of the peel and throw that in. Mince a clove or two of garlic and in it goes. Dice a little dill. Add some salt and pepper. Puree this and put it in the fridge. Pour it into bowls and garnish with a little more dill if you want. That’s it, and it makes excellent leftovers.
Oh, special surprise bonus: Cucumber, Tomato, and Cheese Salad
I just remembered another good way to use up cucumbers.
Peel and cube 2 large cucumbers. Add to a large bowl. If you have a lot of cukes lying around you probably overbought cherry tomatoes too, so halve a lot of those, to get about the same amount as the cucumbers. Into the bowl with them. Cube 1/2 lb. either mozzarella or cheddar cheese. I’ve done both ways–but don’t mix–one cheese or the other. Add to the bowl. If you have any basil, dice up some of that and add. Stir and refrigerate. When you’re ready to eat, add some kind of dressing. Oil and vinegar or maybe some Italian dressing that’s clogging space on the fridge side door. Stir again to coat. Now you can top with something if you want. I’ve used sliced avocados (there’s that dirty word again) or sometimes some chopped walnuts. I don’t stir these in, I don’t want the avocados to get too mushy nor the walnuts to get lost.
BTW, this is a great thing to make in huge batches and bring to outdoor summertime parties, should we all live long enough to ever see those again.
I am waiting for this to become as contentious as the infamous celery soup post…Looks delish, and I have cucumbers in my kitchen garden, so I will report back in 2 or 3 months.
@Elliecoo You should try making Benedictine Spread with your surplus cukes. It’s a Kentucky thing. Very light and fresh tasting. You can use it for tea sandwiches, a dip for veggies, or eat it with crackers. There are lots of recipes online, some use sour cream, others cream cheese, with or without dill. I didn’t link to one because I wasn’t sure which you’d prefer.
Unless you’re the Butcher chickpeas are a good way to bulk out that cucumber salad if you want something more substantial. Also good are favas or cannellini.
I don’t know why, but chilled soup always seems slightly off-putting to me. It’s strange, because everything in the soup sounds good, but cold soup just doesn’t compute in my brain. Maybe I’ll get myself past it and give this a shot.
I do, however, love a tomato cucumber salad, with or without cheese. I usually just dress it with some oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. Basil sounds like a nice addition.
I also have serious trouble with chilled soups. I once tried a chilled soup that sounded excellent–it was a cantaloupe/peach soup–but my brain kept telling me it was all wrong.
@butcherbakertoiletrymaker – I think I told this story here once before. I was talking to my daughter about a recipe I wanted to make for a chilled watermelon soup.
Daughter – So it’s basically a smoothie.
Me – No, I hate smoothies. You puree the watermelon flesh, it has lime juice , mint , and plain yogurt.
D – How is that different from a smoothie?
M – You serve it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.
D – states at me
M – Fuck, it’s a smoothie.
D – Yep
* stares at me *
That must be my problem. I should just drink them out of a glass instead.
Yeah… Yours is a smoothie. Smoothie bowls are all the rage these days anyway (especially those acai bowls at all the trendy sandwich places near me). The one above is still a soup, I think, because of the onion and garlic. I think for me a soup has to be savory?
Yesterday I made cucumber kimchi and it is ‘standing in front of the fridge eating it out of the container’ good. Today I made radish kimchi, so far it seems to be another winner.
“(don’t puree the shrimp)” omfg the thought of cold cucumber and shrimp puree made me gag.
Aside from that, it sounds like a perfect summer time recipe!