Cold Cucumber Soup

Plant Based Option (serves 6 as appetizer, 4 as main soup)

We are fortunate to have a wonderful crop of American slicer cucumbers this month. Freshly harvested, watery, and cooling cucumbers are a mainstay in garden kitchens around the world. This is an Italian recipe adapted for a plant based diet. I substituted coconut milk for the plain yogurt/heavy cream of the original recipe, thus allowing for a richer mouth feel. I also omitted the water since our cucumbers are extra juicy right now. If you are using other types of cucumbers like english or the mini persian cucumbers, please do not hesitate to add water to thin it out. For a vichyssoise take, substitute cold, defatted chicken broth into the soup with onions sauteed in butter.

4 peeled and deseeded cucumbers

½ clove of garlic

1 small bunch of fresh green herbs - mint, parsley, tarragon, basil, chervil, savory

¼ cup of coconut milk

¼ cup or more of water/heavy cream/yogurt (optional)

2 tsp of kosher salt (I used Diamond Crystal)

1 tablespoon or more of lemon juice

Equipment

Blender/food processor, cutting board, paring knife, vegetable peeler

Instructions

1. Wash and peel and deseed the cucumbers. After peeling, cut the cucumbers in half, crosswise and lengthwise. Deseed the cucumbers with a small spoon by running it down the cucumber quarters and discard the seeds.

2. Cut the cucumbers, garlic, and fresh green herbs for the blender/food processor

3. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the water into the blender/food processor and blend until smooth and fine - 30 seconds.

4. Taste and adjust the soup - thin with water/broth/liquid if needed. If the soup tastes flat, brighten with more lemon juice and salt.

5. Let it sit for a while in the refrigerator and do the final taste adjustment prior to serving.