Cucumber Soup

 

Suprisingly to me, this was actually pretty tasty!  My friends and family who tasted it also loved it! 

This was my first time making a cold soup and would be great for summer!

Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:

3 medium cucumbers
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic, minced

Toppings:

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Peel cucumbers; halve lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut into chunks. In a blender, cover and puree cucumbers and broth in small batches. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in the sour cream, vinegar, salt if desired and garlic until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Stir before serving. Garnish with tomatoes, almonds, onions and parsley.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cucumber-Soup/Detail.aspx

Fresh Salsa

(Large batch)

12-14 large tomatoes
1 large green pepper
4 celery stalks
1/2 medium white onion (or 1 bunch green onion)
2 medium jalepeno
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt (add more to taste if needed)
1 tsp pepper

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Medium/large-sized diced tomatoes. Medium/small diced green pepper and celery. Small dice onion and jalepeno pepper. Fine chop cilantro. Combine all vegetables, stir in vinegar, salt and pepper. Eat on tortilla chips. (It is also really yummy to melt cheese on your chips first, then eat them with the salsa.) So good! Enjoy!

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By the way...
...if you don't have one of these (see photo above), you MUST HAVE one. It saves so much time! I know it still takes a lot of time to prepare vegetables before you dice them (washing and cutting out bad parts, etc), but this little tool makes it so easy after that! I used the larger sized dice for the tomatoes and the smaller one for everything else. I only had to chop the cilantro by hand and go over the jalepenos a little extra to make them a little smaller. Love it!

Vegetable Chunk Soup

Ok, so I don't have specific measurements for most of the items in this soup, but I will give you the general idea and you can experiment.

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Water
1 can beef broth (optional)
8-10 red potatoes (scrubbed and quartered)
3-4 carrots (peeled and sliced into thick rounds)
2-3 celery stalks (washed and sliced into chunks)
1/2 large onion (large dice)
ham (cut into medium sized chunks)
-I buy cooked/frozen spiral cut ham, reheat it, put the glaze on it, and then refreeze it in smaller freezer baggies to use in different meals.
salt/pepper to taste

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I pretty much add all of the above listed ingredients into a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and let it cook for 20-30 min until tender. It doesn't take a lot of time because I kept everything in large chunks and threw them in. It turned out great!

Zucchini Crisp

I'm sorry I don't have a picture for this one. I served this tonight to my family and our friends. Only 2 of us knew that it wasn't apple crisp. It tasted great! We served it with vanilla ice cream, and our husbands went back for seconds-looked & tasted just like apple crisp. It was so yummy and made the house smell great!

8 cups cubed peeled zucchini
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
TOPPING:
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cold butter or margarine

In a bowl, combine the zucchini, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
For topping, combine brown sugar, oats and flour in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the zucchini mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and the zucchini is tender

Vegetable Chunk Salad

1 cucumber

3 ripe roma tomatoes

1 green bell pepper, seeded

1/2 red onion, peeled

4 ribs celery from the heart, including leafy tops

1 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 head of iceburg lettuce (or spinach or romaine)

1 carrot peeled and thinly sliced

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(Use all of the above, or mix and match using the vegetables that you like.)

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2 tablespoons vinegar

1 lime or 1 lemon, juiced

1 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce, for mild to medium-hot heat level (recommended: Tabasco)

1/8 - 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, (or canola oil)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, onion and celery into bite-sized chunks. Chop lettuce into small chunks. Combine vegetables in a bowl. Sprinkle cilantro or parsley over the vegetables. Combine vinegar, lime or lemon juice and hot sauce in a small bowl. Whisk in extra-virgin olive oil in a slow stream. Pour dressing down over the salad and toss. Season salad with salt and pepper and serve.