Cold Cucumber Soup With Yogurt and Fresh Basil

Well shoot, I thought this posted eons ago - not!

So here you go, fresh from our Caribbean garden bounty, better late than never :-).

INGREDIENTS

•1 3/4 lbs seedless cucumbers – peeled and cut in 3” pieces (or 2lbs regular cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut in 3″ chunks)

•¼ medium onion – skinned

•1-2 garlic cloves (by preference) – skinned

•1 jalapeño – stem removed, halved and seeded

•2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

•2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

•1 teaspoon maple syrup (cane or brown sugar)

•1 teaspoon sea salt

•1–6oz plain yogurt (non fat, low fat or full fat by choice)

•½ – ¾ c chicken stock (or water) to taste

•1 medium yellow tomato – seeded and cut into 1/8” cubes or 1/4 red bell pepper chopped into small pieces for garnish

•tiny basil top leaves as garnish

•small dab of crème fresh or sour cream as garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Grow a phenominal container garden with herbs and cucumbers for most of the ingredients above!

Step 1: Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor with 1/2 cup of the chicken stock or spring water. Pulse a few times so the ingredients are coarsely chopped, then process until soup is very smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. If necessary, thin with the remaining chicken stock or water to the desired consistency. (I use all 3/4 to get more soup)

Step 2: Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight, until well chilled – it will thicken nicely.

Optional - place the soup in the freezer for 30 minutes before serving.

Step 3: Stir well and ladle soup in chilled soup bowls or martini glasses.

Step 4: Place a small dab of crème fresh or sour cream on top, toss a few pieces of the tomato and/or pepper casually on top of soup and garnish with the small basil leaves or flowers.

Top with coarse fresh ground pepper (optional)

Serve immediately.

The soup can be refrigerated up to 2 days and is very refreshing!