Tag: Cold

Chilled Cucumber Mint Soup

Soups & Stews, Vegetarian

Serves  4

Ingredients

  • 4 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
  • 1 small or ½ large clove garlic
  • 1 cup plain (or soy) yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • 4 scallions, white and green parts, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • ¾ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
  • ¼ cup water
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Cut 1 cucumber into small dice, and set aside for garnish. Cut others into large chunks. Combine cucumber chunks, garlic, yogurt, lemon juice, and water in a blender, and puree until smooth.
  2. Add scallions and mint leaves, reserving some of the mint for garnish, and puree briefly. Season with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if a tarter flavor is desired.
  3. Chill until ready to serve. Stir well before serving, and ladle into bowls or mugs, garnishing each serving with a big spoonful of diced cucumber and a sprig of mint.

Photo by Mike Licht via Flickr used with CC Attribution license

Lemony Chickpea Salad

Salads

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons pure olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered
  • 2 carrots, halved
  • 1 celery rib, halved crosswise, plus 4 small celery ribs, finely diced
  • 1 pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
  • 4 rosemary sprigs and 4 thyme sprigs, tied together with string
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • Finely shredded zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1½ teaspoons finely chopped peperoncini
  • 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¾ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. In a large soup pot, heat the pure olive oil. Add the quartered yellow onion, carrots and halved celery rib and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are golden, about 10 minutes. Add the drained chickpeas, the herb sprig bundle and enough water to cover by 2 inches and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over moderately low until the chickpeas are tender, about 1½ hours. Add a large pinch of salt and pepper and cook the chickpeas for 10 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and cool for 15 minutes, then drain the chickpeas. Discard the herb sprigs, onion, carrots and celery.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, soak the red onion in the vinegar for 15 minutes. Drain, discarding the vinegar. Return the onion to the bowl and add the diced celery, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, chopped rosemary, oregano and peperoncini. Add the chickpeas and olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Fold in the parsley and serve.

Adapted from Tom Colicchio via Food & Wine

Cold Szechuan Sesame Noodles

Pasta & Grains, Salads, Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 8 oz udon noodles
  • 2 tbs sesame oil
  • 2½ tbs freshly ground peanut butter
  • 1 tbs sesame seed paste
  • 2 tbs soy sauce
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp hot chili oil
  • 1⅓ cup vegetable stock
  • 2 tbs thinly sliced scallions
  • Chopped drained cucumbers optional

Directions

  1. Cook noodles al dente (about 5 min), drain with cold water
  2. Put noodles in bowl with sesame oil and refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour
  3. Mix everything else together, pour over noodles
  4. Refrigerate

Andrea McFarren’s recipe adapted from Szechuan Noodles at Oasis in Ithaca, NY. Photo by Stacy Spensley via Flickr used with CC Attribution license