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Creamy Cucumber Soup with Potato and Arugula

by Deedra Abboud in Recipe, Soup
May 10, 2019 0 comments

I’ve been experimenting with soup, particularly ingredients I don’t traditionally think about putting together or in soups at all. For example, it never occurred to me to cook cucumbers or add lettuce-varieties to soups… and yet I’ve now had a lot of success with both.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 3/4 cups potato, diced (about 3/4 lb) [I use Yukon Gold]

4 cups peeled, seeded and thinly sliced cucumbers, separate 1/4 cup [I use baby cucumbers]

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

4 cups arugula (about 4 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1 avocado, diced [reserve 1/4 for garnish if desired]

1 boiled egg, diced *optional

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish *optional

1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions, cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 1 to 4 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Add diced potato, cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add 3 3/4 cups cucumber slices, broth, salt, pepper, cayenne; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook at a gentle simmer until the cucumbers are soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in arugula.

Transfer soup to a blender [careful of blending hot liquids]. Add avocado and parsley; blend on low speed until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl and stir in yogurt. Dice remaining 1/4 cup cucumber slices. Serve the soup warm or refrigerate and serve chilled. Just before serving, garnish with the diced cucumber, diced avocado, diced boiled egg, and chopped parsley, if desired.

Fried or baked pita chips, croutons, or fried onions are a nice addition too.

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