Mmmmm! Esra made me hungry this morning when I read her blog about cucumbers. You an read it here. She described a cold cucumber yogurt soup that she enjoys in the summer. I went searching for the recipe on the internet and found this one but it isn't soup. It is more like a thick creamy salad--I made it and just can't stop eating it. It is a good thing I made it with low fat yogurt. SO delicious, I hope many of you try it. My son came over for a taste and said it reminded him of tzatzikiwith walnuts...it isn't as garlicy as tzatziki though.
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated or chopped finely
2 cups yogurt, drained in a cheesecloth (I drained mine with coffee filters in a colander)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon (I grated the zest and added that too)
3 tbsp minced mint
¼ cup minced dill
Sea salt and cracked pepper
¼ cup toasted walnuts, chopped ( I used all of a small bag)
While the yogurt drained for about an hour, (Esra says you don't have to drain it but I didn't know that then) I sliced the cucumbers thinly, spread them on paper towels and salted them to draw the water out. !/2 hour later, I patted the cucumbers dry and chopped them finely.
Then combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, lemon, mint and dill. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Stir in the walnuts. Serve with warmed pita.
I used way more walnuts than the recipe called for and I am glad I did...they balance the tangyness of the yogurt and lemon so nicely. Not sorry I drained the yogurt because as you can see it is quite wet still.
Thank you for whetting my appetite Esra! I will be eating this all summer!
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