It’s a weekly summer ritual I relish: visiting my local farmers market, where I go hopelessly overboard and buy way too much because I can’t resist the variety of perfectly ripe produce. Then I head home with my bounty and, without touching a stove, oven or grill, whip up a great big batch of … soup.
I bet you were thinking salad.
Sure, I make salads, too. But it is chilled soup that really sustains and refreshes me during the dog days. I regularly riff on gazpacho, making the classic red version as well as green cucumber and yellow tomato varieties, and I relish a subtly sweet melon or berry soup as well. But one of my absolute favorite summer soups puts garden vegetables and herbs in a creamy yogurt-and-buttermilk base. It is cool and light but utterly satisfying, thanks to the protein-rich dairy, and it’s as easy to make as a salad. In fact, like gazpacho, it basically is a salad you can slurp up with a spoon.
This version takes its flavor cues from a Greek salad, with cool chunks of cucumber, juicy tomato, fresh herbs and a kick of feta cheese. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of days, so you barely have to lift a finger to have a revitalizing snack, a lunch (along with some pita and hummus, perhaps) or a starter at dinnertime. In the depths of August, I can’t imagine a better, or cooler, way to use those summer vegetables.
Yogurt soup with summer vegetables, herbs and feta
21/2cups low-fat buttermilk
2/3cup plain, low-fat Greek yogurt
1large tomato, seeded and diced
1/2(seedless) English cucumber, cut into small dice
2medium radishes, cut into small dice
1scallion, thinly sliced on the diagonal (white and green parts)
1tablespoon chopped fresh dill fronds
1tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/8teaspoon salt
1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3cup crumbled feta cheese
2teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish
Make ahead: The soup needs to be refrigerated for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
Whisk together the buttermilk and yogurt in a mixing bowl until smooth.
Stir in the tomato, cucumber, radishes, scallion, dill, mint, salt and pepper, then add the feta cheese. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (and up to 2 days).
Divide among individual bowls; drizzle each portion with 1/2 teaspoon of the oil just before serving.
Makes 4 servings (makes 5 cups).
Nutrition 5/8 Per serving: 140 calories, 11g protein, 13g carbohydrates, 5g fat, 3g saturated fat, 20mg cholesterol, 500mg sodium, 0g dietary fiber, 11g sugar
Ellie Krieger’s most recent cookbook is “Weeknight Wonders: Delicious Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013). She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.
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