Cucumber Bisque with Cherry Tomato Garnish for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

A busy week and house guests this weekend so I wanted a quick and easy soup. I made this cold Cucumber Bisque with Cherry Tomato Garnish for a cooking demo for the Kidney Foundation of Hawaii earlier this week. For the demo, I pulled a couple of recipes from the cookbook they gave me to work from: "A Dash of Aloha: Healthy Hawai'i Cuisine and Lifestyle" by the Kapi'olani Community College-University of Hawaii. This was a quick and easy soup that tasted great and was a hit with the class so I thought I would use some of the leftover ingredients to whip up a small batch for dinner.

Cucumber Bisque with Cherry Tomato Garnish

By Alyssa Moreau, "A Dash of Aloha"

(4 Servings)

4 each (8 cups) Japanese cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped in large chunks

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2 cups plain, low-fat yogurt

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Garnish:

2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in halves or quarters

4 tsp olive oil

4 tsp cilantro, chopped

4 tsp green onions, sliced

black pepper, cracked/fresh ground

Combine the ingredients for the soup in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust flavors to taste. Pour into individual serving bowls and garnish with the cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, cilantro and green onions. Grind some fresh pepper if desired.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (436g) Calories: 190, Calories from Fat: 90, Total Fat: 10g, Sat. Fat: 2.5g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 380mg, Total Carb: 17g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 12g, Protein 9g


Notes/Results: Cooling, refreshing and a good simple pairing of flavors, this is a great light soup for the muggy weather we have been having this weekend. I used a nice thick Greek yogurt, increased the amount of lime juice, and added a bit more cilantro. Easy, and a great way to use up an abundance of cucumbers, I would make this again.

Now let's see who is in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week:

Tigerfish from Tezcape--An Escape to Food is first up with a light and lovely Cabbage and Tomato Soup. She says, "Don't rub your eyes. You ARE seeing cabbage repeats here weeks after weeks because I enjoy this vegetable as you have witnessed in my cabbage stir-fry. Another way to enjoy cabbage is in soups and any day can be a soup day with cabbage and tomatoes. More superpower cabbage (高丽菜) is good for you! It is one of the 13 most powerful superfoods."

It's nice to have Danielle from Cooking for My Peace of Mind back this week, and she is here with a light Lemon and Coriander Soup. Danielle says, "This is a comfort food of a different kind. It's not thick and hearty. It didn't conjure up memories of years gone by. What it did do was comfort my sore throat and achy body. When I heard about Lemon and Coriander soup, my sick little self became intrigued. It had a surprisingly "hearty" flavor to it that was satisfying, followed by a tangy lemony freshness, and then last but not least.....it tickled your taste buds with the aromatic playful yumminess of coriander leaves (which is also known as japanese parsley or cilantro). With all that going on, it still maintained it's lightness."

And my pal girlichef is here with another bowl on her quest to find the world's best Tortilla Soup. She says, "This recipe I found in the back of June 2010's Food Network magazine...it was the Tortilla Soup served at BESO, the restaurant owned by Eva Longoria Parker and Chef Todd English. It was good...and included chicken...which if you've been following along, you'll notice this is my first Tortilla Soup recipe that includes actual chicken. Although the recipe called for grilled & sliced, I actually just poached and shredded it..."I do what I want ;P!"

Janet from The Taste Space is back again this week with a hearty Hungarian Mushroom Soup. She says, "Hungarian sweet smoked paprika is definitely one of my new favourite spices because of its smokey full flavour without too much heat. I already used it in a spiced brownie but it was mixed with a few spices. This soup really lets the paprika shine. A creamy mushroom soup, without cream (wait, does sour cream count?) with a hint of fresh dill and the smokiness of the paprika really sets this soup apart from the pack. I really liked the soup with shiitakes, but that’s because I am a sucker for Japanese ‘shrooms."

Christine from Kits Chow made a Sopa de ajo or Spanish Garlic Soup. She says, "For the past week, it has been raining every day and it is cold for June. A bowl of hot, chicken soup is just the thing for a cold, rainy day. So I made a very garlicky chicken soup. Three bulbs of garlic! Isn't that a bit much? Not really, the garlic is roasted first and the taste is quite mild. Try it! you'll love this soup. Plus it is a good way to use stale bread. My bread was so stale it broke into chunks when I cut it."

Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice loves her chili meatballs enough to add them to her unique Mini Meatball Chili. Reeni says, "This is fairly quick and simple to make. The most time-consuming part is making the meatballs that are seasoned with the same flavors as the chili itself: onion, chile powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano. The spices for the chili are toasted alongside the sauteed onion and then diced tomato, cannelini beans and corn are stirred in along with the pan-fried meatballs. Once you get it all together dinner can be on the table in a half hour or less."



Christine from Fresh Local and Best is back with us this week and with a golden Saffron Fish and White Bean Soup. She says, "Flaky chunks of white fish swimming in a saffron laced clam broth with buttery beans and diced tomatoes. This is a quick, easy and satisfying soup that can be prepared within half an hour, perfect for busy weeknights. This is a recipe I found a few months ago on A Good Appetite a few months ago. The way Kat described it as "slightly exotic but still comforting," was so enticing to me that I just had to try it myself. After making this batch, my only regret is that I didn't double to recipe so that I would have leftovers."

Libby from The Allergic Kid is back with a healthy Chicken and Avocado Salad. She says, "It's tough to adapt a salad that is traditionally mayonnaise based. When making the dressing it's usually a choice between using silken tofu or an unappetizing commercial vegan mayo. One lovely creamy substitute that works well with chicken, though, is avocado. This bright green salad is best the day it is made. I used the same flavors in this dressing as the ones I used for the roast chicken I had leftover, but it's also really good with Asian flavors like sesame oil and lime juice with ginger, garlic and soy sauce."

Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies made Mark Bittman's Pasta Salad with Beans and Herbs this week and says, "When the herbs are full and lush in the garden I use them in great big handfuls. For salads, pastas, rice, sauces, drinks.. whatever could use an herbal boost. My most prolific herbs are oregano, lemon thyme, chives, and mint. If only I could grow other plants the way these guys grow. They swallow up garden lights whole, I think they'd swallow up the house if I gave them enough time. Well, the mint would anyway. This week I used great big bunches of them for a simple and healthy summer salad - perfect for pairing with some grilled merguez sausages and a nice light bottle of white wine."

Joanne from Eats Well With Others is here with her modified version of Michael Symon's Arugula Salad with Roasted Figs, Pancetta, Almonds and Chile. She says, "It was not supposed to be a salad. It was supposed to be an appetizer. Made with dates instead of figs. And minus the arugula, goat cheese, and dried cranberries that I threw in for posterity.
Actually this salad was incredibly delicious. Sweet dried figs (Trader Joe's was out of dates. For which I'm glad. Very glad. Because I really like dried figs.). Salty pancetta. Tangy honey goat cheese. Bitter arugula. My mouth was happy. Very happy. And so will yours be. When you make this. What are you waiting for? Summer's almost here."

Spencer (aka "The Mouse") from Live2EatEat2Live Blog is here with departure from his normal soup this week and with a unique sammie, the PB,RB,& B Sandwich! Spencer says, "One of my favorite sandwiches ingredients is peanut butter. Most times, its two pieces of bread (whole wheat of multi-grain) and peanut butter. It used to be the chunky variety, but since my braces, its been the creamy type. Jelly or jam is extremely optional and rare. I also like the Japanese sweet that has two pancake-like pastries stuffed with red bean paste (Dorayaki). In a moment of channeling a Japanese Elvis, I came up with this sandwich. It’s basically a peanut butter and banana sandwich, except that I substituted the red bean paste for jelly."

Kim from Stirring the Pot is cooking with Ellie Krieger again and made her Greek Salad Pita with Feta Spread and Chicken, along with Cracked Pepper Potato Chips. Kim says, "If you enjoy feta cheese like I do, then you will also enjoy this sandwich. The feta spread is a rather thick spread made from feta cheese, which is thinned out with yogurt and lemon juice. Oregano, lemon zest and black pepper are added to season the spread. This feta spread is some pretty tasty stuff, especially served inside of a whole wheat pita with chicken, romaine lettuce, sliced English cucumbers and mint leaves."

Some wonderful creations this week and quite a variety too. Thanks to everyone who participated. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays button on the side bar for all of the details.

Note: Souper Sundays is posting a couple of hours early this week as I have house guests who think that Hawaii should be experienced in other ways than watching me spend the morning on my computer. ;-) If there are any entries that come in after this posting I will add them as soon as possible.

Enjoy your week!