When Life Gives Your Cucumbers, Make Cucumber Soup

My cukes are just about the only thing left in my garden that hasn't keeled over in this heat and drought.  That and the Romas.  But, despite that fact, I have tons of blooms but no cukes!

So I was really  happy when Hen House ran the special earlier this week for locally grown cucumbers for just 25 cents each.  I picked up 4 of the most mammoth cukes you have ever seen.  In fact, I should have weighed them before I set to work on making the most delicious cold cucumber soup.

Have you ever tried this?  If not, you must!  I had it for the first time earlier this Spring and fell in love.  It's creamy, it's cold, and so light on your tongue.

CrankyPuppy's Cool-Me-Down Cucumber Soup
Easily serves 4 with leftovers; prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3 large cucumbers (or 4 medium-sized)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (I often omit this)
3 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (or 1/2 tablespoon dried dill)
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
1 pint buttermilk
1/2 pint plain or Greek yogurt
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

1. Peel the cucumbers (they're so slick, it's easier to use a potato peeler than a knife.)
2. Cut them in half and remove the seeds. My technique is to use a paring knife to get most of it, then use the tip of a spoon and the rest scrapes right out.)
3. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt and let them stand 30 minutes. This will draw some of the water out of the cukes.
4. Drain the excess water off.
5. Chop the cucumbers coarsely and put the pieces in the blender along with scallions, dill, lemon juice, buttermilk, and yogurt. Blend at high speed.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Chill well before serving.  I like to top each bowl with chopped scallions, sprigs of mint, or fresh shrimp. 

The flavors continue to blend as this soup sits, and it hits peak max flavor at about 2 days after you make it.  But you can eat it as soon as it's chilled also.  It's so light that it's really more of an appetizer or snack, though.  Also, you can substitute sour cream for the yogurt or heavy cream for the buttermilk and add more dill for taste.  I'm not a huge dill fan, so the recipe above is what I use and it's quite "dilly" enough for me.  ;-)

By the way, my cost to double the recipe and feed up to 8 people was just $4.37!  ($1.28 for 1 quart of buttermilk, $2.09 for 1.5 pint plain yogurt, and $1.00 for cucumbers; everything else was fresh from the garden or in my pantry).

So, if your garden is doing great and you end up with more cucumbers than you know what do with, this is a great way to enjoy them. 

Hope you enjoy!

I'm sharing this yummy recipe with Tuesday Garden Party,  Farm Fresh Friday, Farmgirl Friday, LHITS DIY Linky Party, {Green Day}, Inspiration Friday, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Ole Saturday Homesteading Trading Post, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Simple Things Sunday and the Homesteading Blog Carnival..