Zucchini, Cumin & Mint Soup: Silky Green Vegan Goodness for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I checked out Peace & Parsnips: Adventurous Vegan Cooking For Everyone by Lee Watson from the library several months ago but never got around cooking from it. I jotted down this soup recipe--although I checked the book out again this weekend and I may have to add it to my overgrown cookbook collection if this soup is an indication of the quality and deliciousness of the recipes. I love cumin, zucchini was on sale, and the combination of ingredients sounded too good to pass up.

Peace & Parsnips says, "This was a traditional Turkish-style soup until I got my hands on it. ... It is traditionally served with lots of yogurt, but the silken tofu steps in and adds a wonderful creaminess to the proceedings."

Zucchini, Cumin & Mint Soup 
Slightly Adapted from Peace & Parsnips by Lee Watson
(Serves 4) 

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
4 zucchini, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1/4 of a white cabbage, chopped
1 tsp dried mint
1/3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups good veggie stock or water
5 1/2 oz silken tofu or unsweetened, non-dairy yogurt
a handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
(I added 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice)

To garnish: fresh mint leaves, ground cumin. fruity olive oil

In a large soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onions, cumin seeds, and salt and saute for 10 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic, zucchini, celery, potato and cabbage and saute for another 5 minutes or so. Add the dried mint and black pepper, stirring well.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Whisk tofu in a small bowl with a fork until smooth and add to the soup. Blend soup with an immersion blender--leaving it slightly chunky or blending until smooth--as desired. Add the chopped mint (and I added 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice) and stir. Taste and add additional salt and black pepper if desired. 

Serve in bowls, garnished with fresh mint leaves, freshly ground cumin and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy.

Notes/Results: I really like this soup--it is silky, satisfying and full of delicious flavor. I love how well the cumin comes though and the mint. With the freshness of the zucchini and mint, it fits well into warm weather eating and ends up not being too heavy. I did think it called out for some fresh lemon juice to brighten up the flavors a bit, so I added some at the end. I also like Lee Watson's call for leaving this soup a bit chunky--it adds to the enjoyment of eating it. I would happily make it again.

We have a few delicious dishes waiting this week in the Souper Sundays kitchen--let's have a look!

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared Chickpea, Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad and said, "One evening I made my egg and rice stir fry and stayed up late to finish my latest Peter Robinson book. For dinner the following night I made a salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and feta.  I stuffed a pita pocket with it and had a nice light dinner. There was enough salad leftover to serve as a side with a Greek Shrimp Scampi for dinner once Doug was home."

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen said, "I made this Curly Kale and White Beans Soup over the weekend with what we had in the house as I wasn't feeling adventurous. Its nothing special, yet variations of this Curly Kale and White Beans Soup has featured on many a blog and many a cookbook, but it made for a nice change from a smoother soup with its chunky vegetable and crinkly soft greens."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog brought Turkish Red Lentil Soup and said, "I was first introduced to this unique red lentil many years ago by my (then new to America) mother-in-law who made these lentils which she called "aatz" quite frequently to feed her family of seven on a very tight budget.I call it the never ending soup because the longer it sits, the thicker it gets and we always need to add more broth to leftovers when we heat it up the next day. It stretches and stretches!"

 

Mahalo to everyone who joined in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!