Friday Recipe: Chilled Cucumber Soup

I don't think I've posted a recipe on here in a couple years which is kind of crazy given how much I cook. As someone who tries to eat healthy and keep the food bill from getting too out of hand, I end up bringing breakfast and lunch to work pretty much every day. My wife and I also try to eat in for dinner most weeknights too, though sometimes at least once a week we do give into cravings for Chinese, Middle Eastern, or Mexican takeout.

Given our schedules, it makes sense to cook large dishes that we can eat several nights in a row. For example, if I know I've got a rest day on Monday, I can plan on having extra time to cook then so that on Tuesday, when I usually have a long speed work session, we can just pull something out of the fridge.

Since it's finally starting to feel like spring here, I had a craving for chilled soup this week. Chilled soups are some of the best weeknight dinners to make because (a) you don't have to cook them and (b) you never have to reheat them--suck it microwave! Anyway, this week I settled on a chilled cucumber soup because our local fruit guy was practically giving away cucumbers. I kind of made up a recipe after looking at several different ones and was very happy with the results.

Hope you like it too!


Chilled Cucumber Soup

3 lbs cucumbers, peeled, halved,     seeded and coarsely chopped*

1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

2 tbls. lemon juice

1/2 red onion,

chopped

2 garlic cloves

1/3 c. loosely packed fresh dill

2 tbls. loosely packed fresh tarragon 

1/4 c. olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Salt and white pepper

For Serving:

1 avocado, roughly chopped

Croutons

Combine the chopped cucumber with the yogurt, lemon juice, onion, garlic, dill, tarragon. and the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Using an immersion blender or food processor to blend until relatively smooth (I like to make sure there are still some chunks of cucumber). Season with salt and white pepper, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight (this lets all the flavors meld together).

When ready to serve, pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with the avocado and croutons, and top with a drizzle of olive oil.

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*You can really use any kind of cucumber. I used a mix of English and garden cucumbers.

Feeding the Runner: Roasted Eggplant Soup

In the bible of running, Once a Runner, Quentin Cassidy lives by the mantra, "If the furnace is hot enough, anything will burn." As much fun as that philosophy may be, it's not the approach most runners take these days. With that in mind, I'm going to start doing the occasional post on healthy recipes for runners (and other people too). Bon appetit! 

Monday was Columbus Day, a holiday for many of us on the East Coast. Having the day off was the perfect excuse for a nice 13 miler but it was also a good excuse for a visit to the Union Square Greenmarket.

My greenmarket haul, ready to go.

For those who don't live in NYC, the Union Square Greenmarket is the largest farmers' market in the city but unfortunately it only goes until 6pm during the week so I don't get to go very often.(Yes, they also have it on Saturdays, but somehow I never seem to make it then either).

Since the cool weather has finally hit I knew I was in the mood for soup but figured I would let the produce inspire me. That strategy worked great! After scouring the market I decided on eggplants, tomatoes, and onions--all of the necessary ingredients for Roasted Eggplant Soup. Eggplants are nearing the end of their season so I figured I'd better do something with them before they're gone.

This soup is surprisingly easy--you simply roast all the ingredients, simmer them together on the stove, purée, and then eat.

I made a couple modifications to the recipe, first by making it vegan (no, I'm not vegan, but I use almond milk on my cereal and in my coffee so that's what I had on hand). Second, although I was sure I had some thyme it my spice cabinet, turns out I was wrong, so I substituted cumin and curry powder instead. You know what? It turned out super tasty.

Post-roast.

See my version of the recipe after the jump.