Cucumber Gazpacho

I was massively skeptical when most of the "cucumber gazpacho" recipes I found included yogurt.  In gazpacho?

Guess what… it works.  The soup isn't overly creamy and has a distinctive bite, even though I skipped the hot sauce myself.

I'm not calling this "white gazpacho" because it came out green.  Also because I didn't cut the cucumber with honeydew or green grapes.  There were a lot of cucumbers to use.  The herbs add to the flavor enough to give it depth and not taste just like cucumber.

And it only takes minutes to make!

*1 lb cucumber
*1/2 C fresh parsley leaves
*1/4 C fresh mint leaves
1 C water or vegetable broth
*2 stalks green onion
*2 Tb white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
*2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
tobasco or other hot sauce to taste
2 Tb plain yogurt (Greek ok)

1.  Peel cucumber and chop into bite-sized pieces.  Also chop the green onion.

2.  Put everything except the last four ingredients into the blender.  Pulse until large pieces are broken up, then run until smooth.  Add yogurt and run again to mix.

3.  Taste, then add salt, pepper, and hot sauce as needed.  Remember that flavors will dull as the soup is chilled.

4.  Keep soup cold until ready to serve.  Chilling the bowls is a good idea.  Garnish with more yogurt, parsley or mint leaves, or cucumber slices.

Makes 4 small appetizer servings

Difficulty rating  π