Chef’s note: This light appetizer is eaten as a cold soup and can be prepared ahead of time, as it actually gets better with time as the flavors meld. You can thicken the soup with extra yogurt or sour cream, and eat it as a dip, or you further thin the soup with water and drink it as a refreshing pick me up. It’s super easy to make and looks pretty too, with its simple white and green color scheme.
Click here for a recipe for tzatziki dip, and click here and here for other cold soups.
Ingredients:
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1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
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1 tablespoon of fresh mint
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2 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill
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2 garlic cloves, chopped in half
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1 ½ teaspoons of salt, plus extra to taste
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1 cup of cold water
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1 cup of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
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1 cup of low-fat plain yogurt
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1 lemon, juiced
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2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
To garnish:
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extra Greek yogurt
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reserved diced cucumber
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fresh dill sprigs
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coarsely chopped walnuts
Combine about ⅔ of the diced cucumber (reserving the remaining ⅓ for garnish) with the dill, mint, garlic, and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt in a food processor. Pulse the food processor until the ingredients are roughly combined.
Scrape down the sides. Add the cold water, and pulse the food processor until the ingredients are pureed (for about 20 – 30 seconds).
Add the Greek and regular yogurts, and pulse the food processor until smooth. Add the lemon juice and olive oil, pulsing the food processor until smooth.
Season with salt to taste, and chill until cold.
Serve chilled, garnished with an extra dollop of Greek yogurt, a bit of the reserved cucumber, a sprig of fresh dill, and a sprinkling of walnuts.
