WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Both refreshing and elegant, this chilled soup is the perfect antidote for a swelteringly hot summer’s evening. But because it has so few ingredients, we knew that balance and finesse would be key, especially if the subtle vegetal flavor of the cucumbers was to shine through. A food processor turned our soup mushy, and hand chopping all of the cucumber gave us something watery and inconsistent. We found that blending some of the cucumbers and reserving a final chopped handful as a garnish gave us the smooth consistency we wanted with texture to boot. Peeling and seeding the cucumbers removed any unpleasantly bitter flavors. We tried garlic, shallots, red onion, and scallions in the soup, but they were all too astringent; it was only after we left in just the scallion greens that we found the right balance. Tasters preferred dill and mint to other herb combinations, as they brought out the freshest aspect of this appealing soup.
SERVES: 6
TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling time)
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 pounds cucumbers, peeled and seeded (1 cucumber cut into ½-inch pieces, remaining
cucumbers cut into 2-inch pieces) - 4 scallions, green parts only, chopped coarse
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1½ tablespoons minced fresh dill
- 1½ tablespoons minced fresh mint
- Extra-virgin olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Toss 2-inch pieces of cucumber with scallions. Working in 2 batches, process cucumber-scallion mixture in blender with water until completely smooth, about 2 minutes; transfer to large bowl. Whisk in yogurt, lemon juice, 1½ teaspoons salt, sugar, and pinch pepper. Cover and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
- Stir in dill and mint and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, topping individual portions with remaining ½-inch pieces of cucumber and drizzling with oil.
