COOL HAND CUKE: THAT CUCUMBER-YOGURT SOUP, THE ONE WITH MINT, AND GRAPES, AGAIN…

It’s supposed to get up to to 92 degrees today. Time to make this soup again, and share it with new readers.

I semi-vacation when Alpha Dude is up here in Vermont visiting (he lives in New York). So, I tend to work pedal-to-the-metal when solo. I eat more simply, too: I’m the one cooking, shopping and doing the dishes and, again, I’m catching up on all the work I didn’t do while he was here plus regular work (I’m a self-employed writer! I choose which 70 hours of the week I want to work!.)  (Not complaining. I love what I do; the line between work and play is blessedly sketchy.)

But. This doesn’t mean I don’t eat well.

For years, one hot weather staple almost always in my fridge is a large container of Cucumber-Yogurt-Green-Grape-Mint Soup. I am sure I sip or spoon a bathtub’s worth each summer. I often bring it to potlucks or serve it to friends at summer dinners. It is almost always extremely well-received (except for the very occasional person who dislikes the acidic tang of non-sweet yogurt, or who can’t wrap his or her mind around cold soup).

To me and most people, though, it is just the ultimate in refreshing, #summerfood supreme.

Yet also healthy, so easy to make, and ready and willing in the fridge.

Although I gave a recipe for it in Passionate Vegetarian, where it’s poetically titled “Lunar Gazpacho”, the truth is that while I follow the basic outlines of that recipe, I never follow the measurements. Thus it never comes out exactly the same way. Sometimes it’s thicker, sometimes thinner, sometimes smooth, sometimes chunky. It’s always a little sweet from the grapes and usually zinged with mint (though sometimes I use other herbs).

Whichever way I go,  it’s always good.

When on my own and under a deadline, I have even been known on occasion to eat for three meals a day, with just a slice of buttered wholegrain toast on the side… Not that I tell anybody.

But usually I have it with almost anything: a main-dish salad of some sort, a sandwich, a portion of leftover casserole eaten cold… It is a natural companion to anything vaguely Middle Eastern, but then I think it’s kind of happy with almost anything.

Here’s what tonight’s dinner was. Just about perfect for a solo cool dinner on a hot night.

I’ll follow with a loosey-goosey version of the recipe.

Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup with Green Grapes & Fresh Mint

Here it is in the container I store it in, in fridge. Can you see how really, really big this is?

Warmed Sprouted-Grain Tortilla, Spread with Hummus,
Topped with Crumbled Maplebrook Farm Feta,
Diced Kalamata Olives, Arugula-Mesclun Salad, &Middle Eastern Salsa (Diced Tomato, Radish, Chile, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, & Basil with Salt & Lemon)

A Sliced New Jersey Peach

Okay, loves: the soup — in your food processor, you make a chunky puree of:

• chunked cucumber
  green grapes, removed from the stem

Add the following ingredients:

•  a handful of almonds or walnuts (raw, unsalted)
  a few coarsely chopped green onions;
  a couple cloves fresh garlic (or, in season, garlic scapes)
  a whole lot of fresh mint (or fresh dill, or a combination of the two, along with a little cilantro if you like)
  a little optional agave to bring up the sweetness of the grapes
  salt to taste

Turn this puree into a large mixing or serving bowl, or a big refrigerator storage container with a lid. Now, stir in enough liquid to make it the consistency of a not-too-thick, textured smoothie.

About half the liquid should be:

• unsweetened plain yogurt, buttermilk, Greek yogurt, or kefir

The other half should be

*       water (I used to use vegetable stock but these days am using water.)

Whisk well, and taste. Refrigerate.

Eat/ drink / sip  your way down. If you want to fancy it up, scatter some minced herbs over the to, some sliced cukes in half-rounds. Bliss on a hot afternoon.

The quality of the cukes  is one element that can make or break this. You want unwaxed; preferably Persian or Euro, but any variety will do as long as you’ve tasted it and ascertained that it is sweet, fresh, and crisp-crunchy, not bitter, and either seedless or young enough that the seeds are barely formed and tender. Generally, I leave part of the cuke unchunked, and dice it carefully, stirring it in at the end for texture.