Chilled Cucumber and Mint Soup

Chilled Cucumber and Mint Soup

A summer heatwave: mercury rising, relentless heat and no relief in sight. Unless of course you serve your guests a chilled cucumber soup with a yoghurt and mineral water base. This recipe from Geoff Jansz is very hard to beat on a hot day. All the preparations can be done in advance so not only will the visitors feel refreshed, you'll also be as cool as a cucumber.

Ingredients

• four small Lebanese cucumbers
• 100mls mineral water
• 4 tablespoons skim milk natural yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons continental parsley (leaves only)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons mint (leaves only)
• salt, to taste
• vinegar, to taste
• ice cubes, for garnish
• sour cream, for garnish
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Peel the cucumbers. The tips are bitter, so it's important to remove all the cucumber ends as far back as the seeds. If the seeds of the cucumbers are very small don't worry about removing them.

2. Put the cucumbers into a blender. Blend, add the mineral water, blend again then scrape down the sides and add the yoghurt. Blend again, then pour into a large serving bowl. Add salt and vinegar to taste.

(Tip: To ensure herbs have a strong green colour, drop them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove, then immediately place into cold water. Chop herbs finely and set aside until ready to serve.)

3. At serving time, add the chopped, blanched herbs to the soup and stir through. Ladle the soup into individual bowls. Garnish with a few ice cubes, a dollop of sour cream and some freshly ground black pepper.

Copyright 2006 CTC Productions