Sometimes, as a side dish in the summer, I am craving a cold soup along the lines of a gazpacho to be served with my entrée, especially if I’m eating in the middle of the day when it’s hot outside. Cucumbers lend themselves perfectly to these types of cold soups, and can be flavored with herbs and some spices to transform into something truly magical.
Chilled Summer Cucumber Soup
Sometimes, as a side dish in the summer, I am craving a cold soup along the lines of a gazpacho to be served with my entrée, especially if I’m eating in the middle of the day when it’s hot outside. Cucumbers lend themselves perfectly to these types of cold soups, and can be flavored with herbs and some spices to transform into something truly magical.
Ingredients
- 3 full-sized cucumbers (washed and peeled, seed sections removed)
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 3 Tbsp ice water
- 1 clove garlic (finely minced)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tsp sherry vinegar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill leaves (as garnish)
- 1 scallion (finely sliced, as garnish)
Instructions
- Wash the cucumbers, peel them, and slice them down the middle.
- Use a spoon to remove the seed sections from the center of each halved cucumber.
- Lightly salt the remaining peeled cucumber with some Kosher salt, and allow the cucumbers to drain on paper towels.
- When the cucumbers have rested for 20 minutes, pat them dry with paper towels, and place them in a food processor.
- Add the Greek yogurt, ice water, minced garlic, sesame oil, extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, red pepper flakes, and fresh cilantro.
- Blend on high speed until the ingredients are fully pureed.
- Add more water if the mixture is too thick for your liking.
- Taste the mixture, and add more salt or sherry vinegar to taste.
- Chill the soup down in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.
- Whisk the soup before serving, as the ingredients will separate out a bit when they sit in the fridge.
- Serve the chilled cucumber soup in bowls, and garnish with the fresh dill and the finely-sliced scallions.
- Serve cold.
Notes
While you don’t need to salt the cucumbers in advance, I almost always salt fresh cucumbers and let them drain out some of their water before I use them. This gives the Kosher salt some time to infuse into the cucumber. For a blended application like this where the cucumbers are eventually going to be pureed, adding Kosher salt in advance is less important.
You can store the prepared cucumber soup in the fridge, just remember to blend again or whisk this up right before serving.