I’ve been making and eating this soup — one of my favorites — recently, and I thought I’d blog the recipe.
Serves 6 to 8, depending on what size bowls you decide to ladle out.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. persian cucumber.
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped onion (the prechopped onion available in stores is fine).
1 tsp. garlic.
1 or 2 vegetable boullion cubes, or equivalent powder or paste.
4 tbsp. oil or butter.
1 bunch green onions.
(Optional) 1 package dill.
(Optional) 1 cup nonfat milk (though milk with some fat is fine, too).
Salt, garlic powder, and pepper to taste.1. Saute garlic in oil or butter in a medium soup pot, for about 30 seconds.
2. Add onion to the pot, sautee until soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).
3. Cut cucumber into chunks while the onion is cooking. No need to peel them or remove the seeds, if you’re using persian cucumbers. (The normal cucumbers tend to have bitter skins and tougher seeds, so I can’t vouch for your being able to just use them without peeling and removing the seeds.)
4. Add cucumber, boullion cubes, and 2 cups water to the pot (or just use 2 cups of vegetable stock instead of the water and the boullion cubes, if you prefer).
5. Simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Chop green onions while the soup is simmering.
7. Remove from heat, and add 1 cup milk or 1 cup water, as you prefer.
8. Puree the soup, either with a hand blender or in a blender, until the cucumbers are all chopped up.
I prefer to puree only until all the noticeable cucumber chunks are gone, so that the soup will still be a bit rough. But you can puree longer, for a smoother soup.
9. Add all the green onions, or, if you prefer, add half now and save half to put on the soup when you serve it.
10. Chill overnight.
11. Add salt, garlic powder, and pepper to taste.
12. Serve with chopped dill (if you like that).