The one that got away: cold cucumber and beet soup

In this chapter, ragazzi, the one that got away was a cucumber.    Those of you who grow some or all of your own veggies will know all too well the experience Annalena's colleague Mary had.  Every day, she combs her garden, picking squash, cucumbers, etc.  All the things which, if you leave them to their own devices, will become vegetables large enough to kill someone.  Indeed, Mary had one such squash with her last week, so long that it probably could rival a viper.  And she had a very large cucumber which Annalena offered to take off her hands, to make cucumber soup.

Except, Annalena had no idea HOW to make cucumber soup. Well, she had an idea.  She just didn't know if it would work.  It did , sort of.

The cucumber from Mary weighed in at 1 pound, 6 ounces.  Annalena weighed it, and unfortunately, did not take a picture of it.  When veggies that you know of as small become that enormous, it probably is time to think of the soup pot.  Cooking a cucumber though?  Well, truth to be told, cucumbers are really good when you saute' them.  They pick up a concentrated flavor, since the water seems to go off.  But Annalena was looking to make something that would go alongside a BLT sandwich, which was the planned lunch for she and the Guyman on Sunday . (Those plans have now changed.  Such is summer.  Friends come first).

So, first, she peeled that bugger, and taking a large spoon, scooped out the seeds.  Yes, ragazzi, if you are going to use these mammoths to make a soup, get ride of the seeds. Pureeing is in the future, and the seeds will break down into really unpleasant little bits of flora based plastic (that's what they seem like), which will spoil your dish.  Then, cut up the cucumber into chunks.  Annalena got just about 2.5 cups of veggie from this beast.

Natural compliments to cucumbers are dairy products, and Annalena had some REAL buttermilk from her buds at Grazin Angus.  REAL buttermilk does not have a sour taste, however, so if you want that (and Annalena did), you need some help.  So, to a cup of buttermilk, Annalena added a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt.    She put all of this into the food processor, with a teaspoon of salt, and a half cup of water.

The food processor was a mistake, and after she tasted the result, Annalena remembered the counsel she had received from Zarela Martinez, many years ago.  Food processors cut and tear, which is fine if you want something cut or torn.  If you want a puree, you need the blender.  So, in it went.  A taste of the mix, before it went, revealed that it lacked "something."  Clearly, it needed more acid. So in went a shot of white vinegar.  This is one, ragazzi, where you have to let your taste buds guide you.  Into the blender, at puree speed, with some testing along the way, to see if it was smooth enough. When it was, it still lacked.... something.  Annalena thought a bit.  Beets.  Annalena always has at least one kind of cooked beets in the fridge, so she took out and chopped up about the same quantity of the cucumbers:  2.5 cups.  And into the blender they went.

PROBLEM SOLVED!   A wonderful, cool soup, which will be adorned with chopped dill at the end.

Now, for those of you so inclined:  let us go through this recipe for calories and fat:  cucumbers.  Snicker.. A cup   of buttermilk.  Ok, we got some calories there.  A cup of non fat yogurt.    Let's not be silly.  Beets.  Did she not say don't be silly?  Water. Salt.  Dill.   And a quart of gorgeous soup.  Wanna see the color?

How can you resist that, ragazzi?  

Next time, we're going to look at a very easy, very light dessert that is so much better than it should be, it's ridiculous.