Sunday, July 14, 2019

Middle Eastern Leek & Veggie Soup with Dilled Yogurt & Sumac for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was going to make the Middle Eastern Leeks with Yogurt, Dill & Sumac recipe from Diana Henry this week for our Cuisine Spotlight at I Heart Cooking Clubs and ran out of time. Since I had the leeks, yogurt, dill and my big bottle of sumac to use up, I decided to turn the leeks into a soup and use the yogurt sauce as a topping.


Diana's original recipe for the leeks and sauce is here. Below is my adapted soup recipe.

 
Middle Eastern Leek Soup with Dilled Yogurt & Sumac
Inspired & Adapted from Diana Henry
(Serves 4 to 6)

2 Tbsp olive oil
6 to 8 medium leeks
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
1 tsp sumac + extra for garnish
2 cloves garlic, sliced
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill 
1 medium zucchini, chopped 
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
sea salt and black pepper to taste
lemon slices for garnish
Dilled Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)

Remove the tough outer leaves from the leeks and discard. Slice off the base of each one, and the dark green leaves at the top, leaving the lighter green and white parts. Cut the leeks into 1 1/2 inch lengths or leave them whole. Wash them really well, making sure that you get rid of any grit or soil and pat dry.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom soup pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and salt and cook until leeks are softened, about 8 minutes, stirring so they don't brown. Add the smoked paprika, Aleppo pepper, sumac, and garlic and cook another minute or two until the spices are fragrant. Add the veggie broth and dill and bring to a boil, then add zucchini and Yukon Gold potatoes. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until veggies are softened but not mushy. 

Take about 2 cups of the soup and blend until smooth, then stir back into the pot. Add lemon juice and salt and black pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve with a scoop of the yogurt sauce, a sprinkling of sumac and a slice of lemon. Enjoy!

-----

Dilled Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Diana Henry via TheTelegraph.com
(Makes 2  cups)

2 cups Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon

Mix the yogurt with the garlic, dill, mustard, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. You can thin it further if you like by adding water or milk (buttermilk is good if you have any). Serve with the soup. Keep leftovers tightly covered in the fridge for up to a week. 


Notes/Results: A tasty savory soup that is not too heavy with just enough spice. The yogurt sauce with its dill and lemon keep it cool and is really good when stirred into the broth. Whenever I use sumac, I am always reminded of how much I like its almost tart, lemon-ish flavor. I think the dilled yogurt sauce would be delicious on any steamed or grilled vegetable or for pita bread. I will happily make it again.


Linking up to IHCC for the July Cuisine Spotlight: Middle Eastern theme.  


Let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here this week.


Lovely Simona of briciole is back with a fresh Tomato, Cucumber and Radish Salad and says, "I am currently fascinated by the pale green, deeply ribbed, long Armenian cucumbers (cetrioli armeni), whose flesh is mild- and sweet-tasting. Genetically they are a musk melon (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus), rather than a cucumber (Cucumis sativus). The addition of peppery radishes creates a pleasant contrast of flavors, accented by fresh basil (basilico), indispensable companion."

 
Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shares a cooling Chilled Summer Borsht and says,"Borsht is a tangy soup that is popular in Eastern European countries like Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine. It is usually made with beetroot as the base, but every region has its own variation of additional vegetables and ingredients that go into this rich looking "good for you" soup."

 
Mahalo to Judee and Simona for joining me this week!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at 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 Souper Sunday'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. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.
and 

On your entry post (on your blog):
  • Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
  • You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

2 comments:

  1. You had me at "leek" Deb: I positively adore leeks and am known to buy large quantities when they are available at the farmers market. This looks like a great soup, including as it does some favorite spices, like Aleppo pepper and sumac.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love sumac and I'm wondering why we don't use it more? Seems like it would go with quite a lot of dishes. I love how the lemon is both in the soup and on the yogurt topping. Looks really good!

    ReplyDelete

Mahalo for visiting and for leaving a comment. I love reading them and they mean a lot!

All advertising, spam, inappropriate (or just plain rude) comments will be promptly deleted. I do appreciate your right to free speech and to your opinion but I'm not into mean, rude, or mean snarky (non-mean snarky is just fine!) ;-)