Here’s a quick cool soup. On an absolute basis, I prefer gazpacho, but I also love variety. This soup is satisfying, and great for hot summer days.
I added cannellini beans to make it more substantial.
Ingredients
15 oz can (or cooked) cannellini beans, with liquid (425g)
3 large cucumbers (~2.5lb/1.1kg)
juice from 1 large or 2 small lemons (1/4 cup/60g)
large handful dill (20g)
handful parsley (10g)
pinch of cumin powder
8 ice cubes
salt to taste
olive oil and black pepper for garnish
Makes about 6 cups of soup.
Set aside some of the cucumber and dill for garnish.
Blend on high until smooth. You can use the bubble removal technique after blending to get most of the air out.
It tastes best if it’s really cold, so you can pre-chill bowls in the freezer before serving.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for a few days (the next day it tasted just as good as the first day). If you have an excess of cucumbers from the garden, you can blend them up into this soup and freeze some of it.
You could also use avocado or yogurt instead of the beans. Other herbs like tarragon or mint would be good as well.
I tried this without the beans, using buttermilk for liquid and cutting down on the lemon juice. It was light and delicious. I added half a red (sweet)onion also.