Asian Cucumber Soup
These are very hot little firecrackers from the orient. They can be used to add spice to almost any oriental dish. They dry very easily and can be stored and used this way for a long time.
Ingredients:
1 slice day-old white bread or other firm white bread, torn into pieces
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1-1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 pounds cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
1-2/3 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic), divided
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1 Thai chile, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. roasted peanut oil
Instructions:
Place the bread in a blender and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl.
Combine the bell pepper and next 5 ingredients (through garlic). Place half of the bell pepper mixture and 1 cup of broth in a blender and process until smooth. Add the pureed bell pepper mixture to the breadcrumbs and stir well. Repeat the procedure with the remaining bell pepper mixture and remaining 2/3 cup of broth. Stir in the vinegar, sugar, Sriracha, Thai chile and salt. Spoon 1-1/4 cups of soup into each of the 4 bowls, and drizzle each serving with 1/2 tsp. of peanut oil.
Yields 4 servings.
Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, August, 2005.